Dead to Rights
by Trisha
Summary: Set two weeks after the end of Dead in the Family. Spoilers for DitF . Eric/Sookie. Eric and Sookie are held accountable for events at the end of DitF, events that held unforeseen consequences. NOW COMPLETE WITH EPILOGUE.
1. Chapter 1

**Dead to Rights by Trisha**

**Spoilers for Dead in the Family. Please do not read this if you do not want to be spoiled. Reviews are more than welcome, negative or positive. This is an Eric/Sookie story. The Sookieverse and everything relating belongs to Charlaine Harris, of course.**

**Chapter One**

"How many babies you planning to have, Tara?" I shoved the last scrap of pastel wrapping paper into the burgeoning garbage bag and knotted the top. She sat across the room on her futon couch, using her belly as a platform for the plate from which she polished off the last of the World's Best Chocolate Cake. I tossed the bag towards its fellows by the door. "You could outfit a few more just off all this stuff."

Tara shook her head. "People went crazy, huh? I guess it's because it's twins. They go nuts when I tell them I've got two cooking in here."

I smiled at her belly, imagining the little miniature people swimming around in there together, safe and comfy. Innocent. "People can't help it. Twins are a sweet thing."

"Don't I know it. You should see JB at bedtime. I figure he really does think they can hear him if he speaks up close to my belly." She licked the last bit of cake from the fork and set the plate aside. "Most of it's just a pain in the rear, Sookie. I mean that literally. But then I get to thinking about how they might look, whose nose they might have and all that. And then I think, we could maybe do it again. In about a million years, once I've forgotten the butt-pain part."

_Sounds like me and Eric, _I thought. Just enough goodness to make doing it again the next day worth all the bad stuff that comes with it. _It _being our. . . marriage. Of a sort.

I shut away the well-worn mental worry stone that was my relationship with Eric for the past two weeks since his maker had died in my yard. Babies. We were talking about babies. "Butt-pains or not, your babies will be the best-dressed kids in Bon Temps after today."

Tara stood and stretched in a careful way that made me take a step closer, just in case. She caught me and shook her head. "I'm fine, don't hover. JB does enough of that for you both."

"He loves you," I said. "He has to hover a little. It's part of the daddy job."

"And part of the husband job too, I guess," she said. She raised one eyebrow at me. "Speaking of…"

"Eric's fine," I said, turning my back on Tara to grab my shoes from beneath the futon. "We're doing just great."

"Huh," she said. "Does that sound as sincere to you as it doesn't to me?"

_I know_. "Probably just about," I said with a hum in my tone that I hoped gave her the warning to back off. "We are fine. Honest." _I am fine. And he must be fine enough. I'd know if he weren't._

She waited for a moment to see if I'd expand on that. I didn't. "Well, that is good, then, Sookie. I just haven't heard you talk much about him lately." she said.

I reached for my jacket. "Yep, we're good. He's just been busy." The temptation to confide in Tara nagged at me but she had her own worries. "I've gotta scoot; I work in a few hours and there's chores at home that need doing."

"Uh-huh," she said, and heaved a big sigh that was meant to tell me that she wasn't buying what I was selling but would give me a pass for now. "I'll see you. Thanks for the help."

"My pleasure," I said. That much, I really meant.

All the way home, which wasn't far, I kept my mind as quiet as I could. The sun would be setting soon. I had to take advantage of the daylight hours, those Eric spent asleep, to enjoy some mental alone time. Funny, I'd spent my entire life with other people's words in my head but I'd never felt truly crowded until the blood bond flared with Appius and Alexei's disaster of a family reunion.

I parked the car and walked around the yard. The grass on which the two vampires were killed (permanently) the week before had died. It looked awful until Sam had the bright idea of using some natural grass killer on the green between body outlines. Now instead of two man-shaped patches, I had a big, yellowed rectangle, thanks to the manly efforts of Sam, Jason, Claude and a large quantity of beer.

It wasn't easy to stay in the present for me, not these days. My eyes skimmed past the dead grass to remember what had killed it that night. I recalled Alexei, his young-old body full of madness, fighting with Claude while the blood ran into his eyes. And the fairy Colman, father of Claudine's poor baby, joining the ones he'd lost in the Summerland as Eric drank his life away. That fairy had hated me something fierce and I couldn't even really blame him for that.

More than any other ghost, though, it was Appius Livius Ocella who I saw in that ruined grass, Appius whose voice came back to me, as real as life. As I started back towards the door, I detoured a little and stomped down hard on the exact place Appius had laid, right over where his arrogant face had rested as he'd predicted the future. "You were only half right," I whispered, feeling Eric, far away, wake for the night as I spoke. I thought it felt like he was thinking of me. "Only half right." I knelt a little and patted the crunchy grass. "Rest in peace, if you can."

A movement in the shadowy depths of the porch caught my eye as I unlocked my front door. I jumped a little but then realized who it was and smiled. "Oh, hey Sam," I told the collie who wagged his tail at my feet. I let us both into the house. He trotted past me and made a beeline for the bathroom. I'd taken to leaving a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt in there for him. Too many embarrassing moments had taught me the wisdom of that and anyway, he was too small a man to fit into the clothes Eric stored in my bedroom.

Sam emerged a few moments later, barefoot and tousle-haired. I guessed I should have put something in there for his feet but he'd be okay. I'd had just enough time to grab us both glasses of lemonade. I used the small glasses, hoping he'd finished up this visit quickly. "Out for a walk?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Within my chest, something was slowly starting to tighten, a ball of emotion I knew did not belong to me.

"Yeah, more or less," Sam said, coughing a little. The transition from dog to man was easy for him but not completely effortless. He took a sip of the lemonade. "Thanks for this."

"Well, sure," I said, sitting at the kitchen table. I nudged the chair across from me out a little with my toe. He got the hint and sank down into it. "What's less?"

"I was scouting in your woods. Just checking, after everything that went on." He drained his glass quickly.

Uh-oh. "Sam, I didn't ask you to do that." And I hadn't for the very good reason that the last thing Sam needed was to get involved in anything that might start or end with the discovery of Debbie Pelt's body.

He shrugged. "Eric asked me to. He knows I don't mind."

"You saw Eric?" I tried for casual but Sam knows me better.

"Well, no," he said cautiously. "I got an email from Pam about it last week. Eric didn't tell you?"

"It must have slipped his mind," I said, though we both knew that couldn't be true. Things don't slip Eric's mind. "Okay, then." I tried to think of something to say that wouldn't sound suspicious. "Well, thanks, I guess."

"Well, you're welcome, I guess," he replied, copying my dubious tone. "Don't worry on it, Sookie. I owe you for taking over things when my mom got shot. And I'll owe you more coming up here, when you come with me to the wedding. Not that friends need to keep a tally."

The reminder of the wedding did not sit well with that ball of emotion that was feeling more and more like something I _did _need to worry on. I stood up, trying to loosen the tension, and cleared our glasses. "I guess I'll see you at work then?"

Sam got up, tucking the chair back up against the table. He always did have good manners that way. "Nope, not at work. I'm giving you the night off." He raised a hand to stave off my argument. "You've been on your feet all day at Tara's shower. Don't think I don't know that you worked the whole party. I told Tara that I'd buy your time at the shower, rather than you working your shift at the bar. It's my present to her and JB." He grinned. "It's better than another pack of onesies.'

_Another Mr. Highhanded._ I didn't like that he'd made this plan without seeing what I thought about it first but between the strangeness in my chest and the fact that he'd done a generous thing, I couldn't find it in me to make a fuss. My argument deflated, I leaned on the back of my chair with both hands wrapped around the top rung. "Okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You seem like you're in an awful big hurry to get rid of me. Something going on?" He moved close enough that I felt the heat coming from him in waves, like those that rise off hot cement in the summer. It made me shiver though I couldn't say why.

"I'll go, that's fine," he said. "I just came in to tell you no one's stuck any more surprises in your woods. And I didn't smell any fairies either."

"Thanks for looking out for me, Sam," I said, giving him a little hug. He held on a second longer than I'd expected and so it seemed like I was pulling myself out of his grasp when I released him. We both ignored that, me because I wanted to get Sam out of my house before the ball of tension grew overwhelming. Sam had flushed and I could feel his embarrassment. Wanting to make it better, I said, "I know I can always count on you. That means a lot."

"You can." He rocked back on his heels, watching me intensely. "You certainly can."

All of a sudden, that big ball of tension exploded in my chest. I lurched back, sprawling halfway across the table. Pushing my hands against the feeling, I gasped for breath. It felt like getting the wind knocked out of me, only to the nth degree. "Sam," I managed. "Something's wrong. Can you. . . " The tension was full-blown pain now. "Something's wrong!"

His face was still flushed but grim now, and guarded. "My truck's outside. You need to get to Eric. He'll be at Fangtasia?"

As Sam helped me out the door, I nodded. Why not Fangtasia? Eric might be there. He might be in Barbados or in Russia or on the moon. I really hadn't the slightest clue where he'd gone.

The ride to Shreveport was silent. Sam didn't seem able to put his thoughts into words and I was too focused on the fire in my chest to pay him much mind. I'd like to think that the minutes of missing time I accrued during that drive were due to naps but truly, I was fighting to stay conscious until we were a few blocks from Fangtasia's parking lot. Then, as if it had never been, the pain vanished. All that was left behind was some combination of strong emotions too tangled to sort.

I gasped as the pain disappeared and Sam reached a hand out to pat my knee. "We're here, it's okay," he soothed. I closed my eyes as he parked the truck, knowing nothing causing this feeling could possibly be called _okay_.

I walked in under my own steam. It might have been easier to let Sam carry me, as he'd wanted, but it wasn't necessary and more importantly, I now knew Eric was definitely in the building someplace. If he saw me in Sam's arms, he'd think I'd been injured or had taken ill. Whatever he was dealing with, he didn't need a dose of fear to go along with it. Or possessiveness either.

No one manned the door and inside, the bar was dead. Dead empty, I mean. Most of the lights were off; I hadn't noticed the outside display but judging by Sam's rigid posture, it wasn't just me who thought the place was closed.

We stood for a minute, peering into the dark room, still as dummies. "Sam, I think you should wait outside," I whispered, though I don't know why I bothered. Anyone there would be a vampire, who'd hear me no matter how quiet I tried to be.

"Never gonna happen," he whispered back, squeezing my elbow. "Is Eric here?"

I tilted my head in the general direction of the office area. Eric was definitely back there. And something bad was happening. It might not have been the smartest move to make but my body catapulted into motion before my brain could catch up. "Eric!" I shouted, moving as quickly as I could towards the feel of his emotions, which spiked sharply as he must have heard my voice.

"Downstairs," I told Sam, shoving open the door to the basement area below the offices. I clattered down the stairs with Sam my faithful shadow. "Eric?"

In contrast to the empty bar, I'd never seen so many vampires in such a small place as we found in the basement. Most of the vampires were strangers to me but I saw a few familiar faces. The crowd parted in deference to our arrival, revealing the main event to which they had, apparently, been invited. _Not good, not good_, I thought, wiping my sweaty palms on my hips as I stopped and took in the scene.

I hadn't seen or heard from Eric since he'd flown away in joy the night his maker had died. It was a fact that stung me deeply for the first week or so. I'd expected him, needed him even. He hadn't seen fit to need me in return. The worst thing about it was that I knew he must have been hurting after the loss of the man who had been so important to him. I guess it might have been petty but I'd wanted him to turn to me, as I would to him, for comfort. Instead, I got silence. Again.

The first time, I could understand. Appius could have made Eric do any manner of thing to me against both of our wills and besides, I didn't think Eric wanted me to see him like that. Mastered. But there was no such protection involved in this silence. I'd moved past anger a few days back and worry as well, skipping straight to fear. I knew Eric would have called me if he'd been able. _I knew that, right?_

Seeing Eric sitting with his wrists and ankles bound in very thin but undeniably silver chains before Victor Madden showed me that my fear was not misplaced.

"Eric?" He looked exhausted. Every bone of his face was visible, even from halfway across the room. Before I realized I'd moved, I found myself kneeling at his feet. It was the only way to continue to look him in the eyes as the minute he'd seen me, his head had bowed. His hair curtained us both as I stretched up to press my mouth against his lips, which were hard, cold and utterly unyielding. "Honey?"

His arctic eyes met mine. "It's not safe for you here. You shouldn't be here." The words were meant in a caring way but the tone filled me with rage. It tipped me over an invisible ledge inside my heart. Eric, normally so vibrant and in control, had been put into the place of a victim one time too many. I'd seen it in him during that first moment of his maker's return and again the night Alexei snapped. I couldn't stand to see it again.

The parts of me which would have gladly shoved a tree branch into Appius' heart rose up. I swallowed it down as best I could, in the interest of self-preservation. Rising slowly to my feet, I faced Victor with some effort and asked, "What have you done?"

Victor gave me his snake charming smile. That smile was the only thing in this room colder than Eric right at that moment. "Sookie, I'll have to ask you to step back and join the rest of the observers. We're in the middle of a trial here."

For the first time, I saw another face I knew. Joseph Velasquez, Stan's right-hand man, sat in a chair identical to the one hosting Eric, though he had no restraints. He acknowledged me with a slight nod. The serious expression on Joseph's face paired up with the defeat resonating through the blood bond clued me in. In this trial, Joseph was the plaintiff and Eric the defendant. Whatever was happening, I'd jumped in way over my head. At least I had the experience to realize this, for once, though I couldn't let that stop me. Eric's silver chains were burning him, slowly but surely. I could smell it.

"What is this all about?" I couldn't imagine what Stan might have against Eric. Not that I knew everything there was to know. Clearly! The last I'd heard, Stan was healing and Joseph was busy running Texas. "I'm Eric's, uhm, Eric's wife. Shouldn't I have been contacted if he were accused of a crime?"

Eric lifted his head. "Lover, you were," he said quietly. "They made certain you would feel my..." His focus turned to Victor. "My _dissatisfaction_."

_Oh_. "Well, I did," I said. He and Victor continued their eyeball death match. I maneuvered myself between them, just a little. It was probably the stupidest move I could have made- if Victor wanted to flat-out murder Eric, he wouldn't be putting him on trial, one, and two, he'd fly right through me. But I couldn't help it. _I guess this is love_.

Joseph cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to him. "I am here in regards to the death of my king's child, Felicia, and Eric's culpability in the matter. You should have been contacted earlier, Ms. Stackhouse. Or is it Mrs. Northman?" Joseph tipped his head to me in the tiniest bow possible. "My apologies for this breach of protocol."

"Ms. Stackhouse," I said. _Felicia?_ Eric had mentioned she was likely a spy but it still caught me off-guard. And they held Eric responsible? I bit down on my lip, realizing Joseph was waiting for my reply. "Yes, I should have been told. Pam might have phoned me, if you-all were too wrapped up in whatever this is."

A pang of despair shot through the bond. Eric bowed his head again. It dawned on me that Pam wasn't in the room where she should have been. _Oh God._ "Where is Pam?" I asked, my voice coming out all squeaky. "Where is she?"

Someone stepped up beside me. It was Heidi, who seemed to think I was a friend. Or else telling me her awful little story about her son had been a way of letting me know where her loyalties rested and why, which made her an enemy outright. Either way, I didn't want her close right then, to me or to Eric.

I put a hand on his shoulder, rigid as granite and just as immobile. "Where is Pam?" I asked again, surveying the crowd of expressionless faces. None of the bystanders wanted to get involved, I could tell. Eric leaned his head a little against my hand, the closest he could come to touching me.

Heidi took another step closer. "I'll take you to her."

I felt Eric nod. My hands clenched against him, not wanting to leave him in this friendless room, in his pain, alone. He nodded more firmly. "Alright then," I said. I kissed him hard on the top of his blond head, all the while giving Victor and Joseph the biggest glare I could muster. "Eric, I am coming right back."

The room was still and silent as Heidi led the way through and then up the stairs to the door. She closed it gently behind us and strode quickly down the hallway, leaving me to rush along after. Sam was still with me, I realized with a start. I'd completely forgotten him in my concern over Eric and whatever predicament was befalling us all now.

Heidi took us to Eric's office. Pam sat at the small couch across from the desk, a bottle of True Blood pressed between both hands. The way she held onto it, she seemed to be praying. Pam praying was the scariest notion I'd encountered that evening.

"Pam, what… what…" I stuttered, too many questions competing for space in my mouth. "Pam?"

"Hello, Sookie," she said. I heard a hitch in her voice. She had the strangest look on her face, something like bewilderment but really, I couldn't read a thing off her. I don't expect to with vampires, of course, and Pam's ability to hide her emotions rivaled even Eric's. As I stared, she put down the bottle and patted the couch cushion beside her. "You had better sit, my friend."

I moved as slowly as the deer would move beside the cougar when I lowered myself to sit where she had indicated. "Pam, what's going on here? Why didn't someone call me?"

"Eric was arrested within hours of leaving your home after Appius met his end. I escaped imprisonment but they watched me closely. Besides, Eric forbade it." Pam leaned back, stretching out her legs, the comfortable pose at odds with her voice, which was carefully detached."Is he still downstairs? I can't tell."

"Yes, he's there. I found him in the middle of . . . wait. You can't tell?"

She shook her head, her Alice in Wonderland hair swinging side to side. "I can't feel him at all, not any longer. They have severed our bond."

With those five words, I finally understood just how much trouble we were in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_So that's what hurt so bad,_ I thought, sucking in a deep breath. Pam studied me as if my reaction told her something. I put my hand out to touch her shoulder but dropped it halfway, unsure of what she might want. "Pam… oh God. How?"

Pam pointed to the desk. "Him."

"Uh-huh." I nodded. "Desk."

"You are brilliant," Pam said. "Not the desk. I haven't lost my mind yet. Behind it."

The desk was big and sturdy, suitable for a guy of Eric's size. I peered over the top and found legs sticking out of the place where the chair should belong. The legs were very still. I sought out towards the person for any sort of mental signature but there was nothing, not even the fuzzy vampire pattern. "Pam, who was this?"

"I believe he was once your cat," she replied, as if this were an everyday thing to talk about, which reflected her mood. Nothing special, just a dead guy underneath Eric's desk. Nothing special, I'm just disconnected from my master, something that was supposed to be impossible.

_My cat? _"Bob?" I scurried around to crouch beside the legs. Bob was face-down but the bright florescent lights showed me it was him, no doubt about it. "Oh lord. Oh no. How did he get here?"

"The witches are a very intelligent group, did you know that, Sookie?" Pam folded her arms across her chest. "Very smart. They must have developed the spell to sever our bonds long ago but it was never used or perhaps had been covered up to prevent bloodshed. Did you know that Bob could do something like this?"

"Oh heck no," I said, rushing to stand and face her. "No ma'am, I did not. But I did know he was a witch, of course."

"A witch and a shaman." Pam nodded toward Sam, who stood leaning with his back to the doorframe. "Shifter, you knew, didn't you?"

"I never met Bob as a man," Sam said, scratching at his chin. "I couldn't say. But I know shamans exist and are pretty useful to the Weres and other groups. "

"Useful. Yes. Usually the Weres and other groups use shaman from within their own ranks. I don't know how Bob ended up with the position. Maybe his time as a cat qualified him or maybe he had a special talent." Pam turned to Heidi, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to meld with the wallpaper. "You. Spy-whore. You can tell Sookie what happened. You were so eager to involve yourself. Now is your chance."

Heidi ignored her. "Sookie, you came here, you've seen Pam. I think Victor will want you back at the trial now."

"And I think it would be best to know a little more before I go back down there with those guys," I said, trying not to look down at Bob's lifeless legs. Poor Bob. The guy never could catch a break.

Heidi pursed her lips in thought. After a moment, she said, "Okay. I can't see any harm in it. Bob knew Victor was unhappy with Eric. He also knew that Eric was quite happy with you. I don't know what you did to that man but he wanted to stab at you in the worst way."

"At me? I wasn't the one who turned him into a cat! Or the other one, Octavia, who kept him that way a lot longer than necessary!"

"Octavia's dead," Pam said. "At least, according to the pussy boy, she is. He didn't have the stones to touch Amelia, not with her father's connections."

"So he's taking it out on the people she cares about? Great." I thought for a minute. "He targeted you, Pam? Because you and Amelia used to date?"

She waved her hand over her body. "So it would seem. And you as well, though less directly."

"Poor Eric's just the innocent bystander in all of this, huh?" Somehow, that didn't sit right. "I know there is a potion shaman's drink that enhances some sort of psychic ability. When I drank it, I didn't feel the blood bond."

"Had you shared that cup with Eric, the bond would have broken." Pam pressed against her stomach, grimacing. "It hurts and it tastes like ass."

I didn't know what to think of that. The room fell silent. _Bob_. He hadn't been happy with Amelia and rightfully so but _Bob? _ My memories of him as a man were few but he used to have the sweetest purr. I said a little, silent prayer for him before moving back to sit beside Pam. "Does he have anything to do with the trial that's happening downstairs?"

"Somewhat. Only somewhat. Eric's in a bad position and so when Bob made his little ability known to Victor, our fearless leader took advantage of that. I'm the first part of Eric's punishment. Stan lost his child and now so has Eric. It was deemed the least that would happen." That made Pam snicker but it didn't sound like she found it funny. "The least. Right. This is far more than what would happen normally in a situation such as this. Eric didn't kill Felicia himself, nor did he fail to offer the normal recompense, such as for Long Shadow. Victor is benefitting from punishing Eric in every way possible."

"Yeah, I can see that. But what is Stan's motivation here? I thought he and Eric got along okay, other than the spying-on business."

"That's the truth. Stan has never liked Eric but there was no true animosity between them. Felicia was Stan's only living child. After Rhodes, Stan's position is likely all that man can think about."

_Ah_. "Felicia's death weakens his position. Punishing Eric like this must seem like just the ticket to making sure others know not to mess with him."

"Yes. And Victor has been right there to. . ." she paused to consider Heidi's presence. If I were Heidi, I'd have been squirming right then but Heidi just considered Pam right back. "Victor has been right there," Pam finished but I think we all knew she meant to say that Victor was a scum-of-the-planet, opportunistic, egg-sucking bastard looking to screw Eric up one side and down the other.

"What else can they do to him?" I could feel through the bond that Eric was unharmed, other than the low-level distress that probably came from the silver burns. "I need to get back there. I told him I would."

Pam turned the same cold look she'd given Heidi onto me. "Eric was locked away in a silver-barred cage for two weeks. Two _weeks_, Sookie. I was helpless. Where were you?"

_Christ._ It had never once occurred to me that I should call Eric or come to Shreveport to find him. Well, it had crossed my mind but not in any real way. I wanted to talk with him, to touch him. He was all I could think about. But I was so convinced that no matter what, Eric could take care of himself, I never thought he might need me. Not like this.

I was an idiot. "Pam, I. . . I wanted to. I just. . . I didn't know. I thought he had things to take care of. I thought he. . . I didn't _know_."

"I'm sure Eric will be pleased to hear that."

Sam moved to my side. "Sookie, let's get out of here. Now."

As if on cue, Heidi stirred from the wallpaper. "I'll take you back to Victor."

Sam opened his mouth to say that hadn't been what he'd meant. I could see it in his mind, clear as day. He wanted to toss me over his shoulder and carry me right on back to Bon Temps, to safety. "Sookie," he said, pleading with the one word only.

"Sam. I need you to not be here right now." It was hard to say that but also necessary. I couldn't look after us both and Sam had a way of John Wayne-ing it at the wrong moment. His hero streak would get him killed. "Please."

He wanted to argue, wanted it more than anything. I couldn't read his thoughts and I didn't want to try but his emotions sang out. "Please," I repeated. "They aren't gonna hurt me. I have the king's protection, remember?" I never told Sam that the king's protection hadn't meant spit the night Pam and I were attacked on the way home from Eric's house that night. I wasn't above a little sleight of hand if it meant Sam would go home safely.

"I will wait in the car," he said, his color rising high in his face.

"Sam." I could leave no room for mistake. Room was bad for his longevity. "Go home. Go on."

_Go on, get!_ I didn't say that. It would sound like I was talking to a dog but I'd be damned if that wasn't how he acted at times, like he had more heart than sense.

He didn't even say good-bye to me after that, just turned and left. It hurt but I guess that was best. I couldn't think about him now, at any rate. "Pam, are you coming down with me?"

Pam had watched the whole exchange with what looked like amusement. "I cannot. An unclaimed vampire is always at risk. The unbonding potion must have an equal opposite; anyone could take me. Eric has ordered me to stay away as much as I am able. He's no longer my master but he is still my employer." She ducked a bit and I read that to mean she still considered herself as belonging to Eric, regardless of any physical bond. "I'll . . . bide my time up here until I am needed."

Mindful of Heidi, I said, "I understand," sure Pam would be gone at the first opportunity.

As I stood to leave, Pam stopped me with a long, cool hand on my arm. "You are my friend, Sookie. I am your friend, too."

"Uh-huh?" Maybe she had lost it a little bit after all. "Yep, we're friends."

She patted me like a puppy. "Just so you remember."

XXX

The basement crowd had gotten bored, it seemed, for they sat on the cement floor. Some were sprawled out; others sat stiff and still as the creepiest doll collection ever. This allowed me to see as soon as I came down the steps that Eric, Joseph and Victor hadn't budged since I'd left. It seemed that vampire trials involve talking ad nauseum. Perhaps the last one to stay sane through the tedium was the winner.

I knew Eric saw me when a pulse of relief came through our bond. I'd rarely been grateful for the bond but at this moment, it gave me the reassurance that I was wanted. That helped me gather the courage to face Victor on Eric's behalf. Eric had done nothing to deserve what they'd done to him and Pam. I tried to suppress my anger so as to keep it from influencing Eric's own emotions.

"You found Pam?" Eric knew that I had but perhaps he wanted me to affirm it to the others or maybe he just wanted to hear how she was feeling.

"Yep, upstairs in your office. She's okay." I thought of Bob. "It was a real eye-opener in lots of ways." _There, Eric, please understand that I've seen it all._

"Wonderful," Victor said. He waved a hand and the vampires who made up the crowd all rose and filed out of the room. It made me nervous but Eric didn't seem surprised so I stood beside him and watched. I was shocked to see Pam come down the steps as the last of the crowd left. Victor made a happy little humming noise. "She knows?" he asked Pam.

"She knows what, exactly?" I demanded. I'd judged this very wrongly. I had no idea what might happen next and that was frightening in this crowd.

Pam didn't pay me any mind. "Yes, she knows enough."In her hands, she held a large, black cup bearing the Fangtasia logo.

"She doesn't know that Victor has claimed Pam as his own child," Eric said. "I need to speak with her."

"So speak," Victor said, taking the cup from Pam.

I didn't know what was happening but some things I could piece together. "You're my friend, Pam? So then what's in that cup?"

"Lover, you know what is in the cup," Eric stated so flat-out and plain, I didn't know how to respond. "You saw Bob the shaman. Victor, I need to speak with her alone for a moment." He hesitated. "Please."

Pam shrugged and headed to the back of the room. Victor waited until it looked like moving away was his own idea, then he followed her. "They can still hear us," I said, crouching by Eric's feet.

"They will pretend that they cannot and besides, it doesn't really matter. There is nothing to hide, not at this point." He pinned me with a fierce glare. "Sookie, this is what you have wanted. Our bond will be broken. You can return to your old life with no further encumbrances from the vampire world. My enemies will be mine alone. That is the deal I have made. They will remove our bond and they will leave you alone."

_Encumbrances. What I've wanted. _"None of this is what I've wanted," I whispered. Holding tight to his knees, one in either hand, I squeezed. "I want you. Eric, I'm so sorry, I…"

"No, lover," he interrupted. "We have no time for this. Listen to me. I am not angry with you. The situation has gone past my ability to remain in control. I have agreed to go to Texas. Stan requested this to be my restitution for the loss of Felicia."

I scrubbed at my face, trying to understand what was happening to us. Disbelief rose in me so strongly, I knew Eric felt it too. His eyes had a red tinge to them but I could feel him holding them back in a demonstration to the magnitude of his willpower. They were going to take him away from me and he had to let it happen. "Eric… what can I do?"

He smiled at me, a wobbly smile but a true one. "Go and be happy."

"Without you? While you are being punished? Are bamboo sticks underneath the fingernails still in fashion or is it all about water boarding these days?"

"I doubt that will befall me. Stan has better uses for someone with my skills. Regardless, you will not feel a thing, once our bond is removed."

"I don't care about that!" _Well, not a lot, anyway._ "I won't know what's happening to you. I'd rather keep the bond and know instead of sitting home worrying in the dark."

"Dear one, they will remove our bond no matter what you do. It has come to this. I must go and you . . ." He shook his head. "It would be pointless and wasteful for you to follow. So yes, go and be happy. I can do nothing else for you but I insisted on this one thing, that they remove the bond so that no matter what befalls me, you will be safe and won't suffer from my…"

"From your pain? Is that what you won't say?"

His eyes blazed. "Yes, from my pain. And possibly torture. And anything else that might come to pass. I felt your torture, remember? That will not be your fate. You will be unconnected. Safe."

"Alone!" My nails dug into his thighs. "Eric, don't do this. I wanted the bond to go away but not like this. Don't just give up."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "The strongest force on this planet is the wind."

"Huh?" I leaned into him, cupping his cheeks in my hands. Pressing my forehead to his, I kissed his mouth and said, "Eric, _please_. Where is your stubbornness now?"

"It is already done," he murmured, so low that I could barely hear him. "You're going to love this world again, my lover, if it's the last thing I do." He took a deep breath in, holding in my scent. "This is, of a sudden, the only thing I care about. Sookie, this is love."

Cold hands closed around my upper arms. Pam pulled me up to a stand. She wasn't hurting me but neither did she let me move. Victor brought the cup to Eric and put it to his lips. I couldn't watch as Eric swallowed half the liquid in two big gulps. He couldn't seem to bring himself to look at me either. The bond was clogged with too many feelings; I didn't know which were his. I hoped he was miserable. I hoped he suffered, damn him!

Pam's grip tightened as Victor approached us. "I'm your friend, Sookie," she said. "Never doubt that." Then she grabbed my ponytail to force my head back.

_Some friend_, I wanted to say, but it was too late for talking. The cup was shoved up against my teeth. Victor cursed when I refused to open up and there was Pam again, handy Pam, knuckling open my jaw. Thick, warm liquid sloshed down my throat. I gagged and struggled but it was for nothing. Victor finally lost his patience and raised his fist. The last thing I heard was Eric's warrior yell before it all faded into black.

XXX

I came to in the passenger seat of Sam's truck. It was still dark outside but dawn's fingers were ticking the sky. A soft but doggy-smelling blanket had been wrapped around me. My mouth tasted of the potion. It all came back to me in one big downpour: Eric, Victor, Pam and Bob. "I need to phone Amelia," I chocked out, then coughed and gagged hard enough to knock my head into the window. "And then I need to throw up."

"Shh, Sookie, just rest," Sam said. Leaning over with one hand holding the wheel, he unearthed a box of Kleenex from beneath my seat and put it on my lap."It's already done. She's in Italy with her father. She's safe. She wishes you luck."

I spit into a wad of tissues, trying to get the taste out of my mouth. Ass, for sure. "Luck? That's what she said?"

"She means it sincerely. In a good way. She can't help anyway. What could she do? Bob is dead. Amelia can't be any help with Eric and his vamp buddies."

_Eric. _I wondered if he was on his way to Texas yet. Probably not; they couldn't have left so close to maybe Victor's daylight people worked quickly.

I wondered if he'd be flying on Anubis and if somebody would be there to make sure no one tampered with his coffin in the sunlight. The bond was dead. I could feel where it had lived inside of me like a winter grave gone empty. I wondered what would become of Fangtasia. At least Pam was there. She knew the business and if there would be any homecoming for Eric, she was the only chance he had of retaining a place. _Eric, oh lord_.

Tears nibbled beneath my closed eyelids. I gritted my teeth, forcing them back. I was furious with him but it was beginning to occur to me that there was really no reason for my anger. He was a victim in this, as much as I was, and Pam too._ Victor_. He was the real enemy. He'd come to Eric's home and stomped around like a spoiled child destroying what he desired but did not have. He'd used Bob's ability and vengefulness as a weapon against us. Eric did what he could. He spared me pain the only way he could. Though he might have let me choose! _He never would and you've always known that about him, Sookie. He does what he thinks is best for you, even when you won't do the same._

I would have given anything for the blood bond right then. Not that I'd have felt much, with Eric asleep for the day but at least I would have the assurance of feeling him again once night fell. As it was, he might as well have been dead. _I will never find him like this, never._

"You can't go looking for him." Sam slowed to let a carload of college students pass us by in a hurry. "You know it."

_Did I say that aloud?_ "He doesn't want me to." I twisted the Kleenex over and over in my fingers. "He wants me to move on with my life. He made a deal."

"He's right," Sam said, looking as if he'd bitten a lime. "He's doing what's best for you."

"He certainly thinks so!" I rested my head against the cool window glass, watching the streetlights flash by so quickly, they looked like one continuous bar of color. Beyond them, dark trees bracketed the highway. Beyond them, far beyond, was another road that would take us back to Shreveport. And on there, the exit for Fangtasia as well as the little airstrip Anubis used as a secondary boarding facility, the one Eric would surely be using as soon as the daylight people got him on board. For the first time, I felt sad that Bobby Burnham had died. There was no love lost between us but I never doubted his loyalty to Eric. It would have been a comfort to know someone was with Eric on whom he could rely. Someone he could trust. In those two weeks he spent locked in a silver cage, he must have felt utterly alone.

Something snapped in my lap; I realized I'd been twisting the rope of Kleenex so hard that it broke in two like a dried up branch. "Sam, I made such a big mistake. You wouldn't even believe how badly I have messed this up."

"Bob's not your fault," he said, sparing me a quick glance before returning his eyes to the road. "He's Amelia's can of worms."

"With Eric," I clarified. Tears burned again and this time I let them fall. Drawing up my knees to my chest, the seat belt squished against my belly, I cradled my wet cheek against them. "I love him, Sam. I just… I never thought he'd need me. Of everyone on this planet, I thought Eric could take care of himself. He wasn't himself with Appius in town…" I sniffled, glad again that Appius was dead though maybe if he hadn't died on my grass, he would be Stan's bitch in Texas instead of Eric, paying for poor, crazy Alexei's crimes.

"Eric likes to take care of others. He wouldn't want you to take care of him." Sam's voice, I noticed, was kept carefully even.

"I thought so too." Pam's words came back to me: _Where were you? _I had been at home, getting used to Dermot and Claude being around full time. I'd been working, doling out beers and burgers, wiping down tables, counting my tips. I'd enjoyed myself at a cook-out with Jason and Michele, and at Tara's baby shower. And while I'd done all those things, I'd been mad at Eric for not calling. I'd stewed with resentment for his supposed obligations at Fangtasia and with the vampire bigwig. I figured he'd just overlooked me or that he wanted time to get his stuff straightened out before he focused on me again. _God, that focus, how he can make me feel like the only thought he's ever had._

And that whole time, he might have been sitting behind bars, losing his child just weeks after losing his "father", hoping that I would come.

Okay, I didn't _know _he'd hoped that. Knowing Eric, he'd probably hoped I wouldn't, that I'd keep myself out of it, safe. I know I'd had that thought when the Terrible Twosome kidnapped me, at first. But after a while, it got so bad, all I could think of was Eric coming for me. Eric hadn't been tortured but knowing him as I did, I knew that sitting in a cage while losing everything he'd ever held important was worse than physical pain.

Now he was in another cage, on his way to servitude and the unknown. Alone. "Sam, what do I do?"

"Sookie!" He snapped at me, which shocked me. I guess that was the point. "You go home. You stay alive. That's what you do."

I lifted my chin to look out the window, my arms wrapped firmly around my calves. I thought of the feel of Eric's legs in my hands just a little while before, so tense and still despite the odor of his flesh burning, acrid in the air. I thought of the contrasts of him, the Viking warrior and the gentle lover, the man in whose arms I felt safer than anyplace else, ever. I thought of the way he laughed when I made a joke no one else would understand, of the ancient words that fell from his lips to run over my skin like summer rain when he was buried inside my body, as close as two people could be, body and mind.

I thought of Stan's coldness, Victor's psychotic persistence, Pam's forced subservience and strength. That empty grave within me ached, the loss of Eric's presence more of a grief that I'd ever expected. Eric's words came back to me: _You're going to love this world again._ He meant in a normal life, a vampire-free life. A life without him.

The sun nudged its way above the trees, lighting the road ahead of us. Peeking in the side mirror, I saw the darkness of the road we'd left behind. "I don't know, Sam. I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

When Sam drove up my driveway, the windows of my house were lit with warm inner light that matched the glow of the sun rising over the trees. Though I rarely got to see the sunrise, I was way too exhausted to enjoy it right then. Sam looked as tired as I felt but his hands were steady on the wheel.

It surprised me to see Dermot sitting on my porch but only for about half a second. He'd been around infrequently, visiting Claude. I hadn't let them sleep in my bed again. The line between 'family' and 'weird' stopped firmly at my bedroom door. Dermot did seem to be feeling better and I was glad for that. The less crazy around, the better. We had more than our share.

I thanked Sam and waved him away. He wanted to come inside but I pleaded exhaustion. It wasn't a lie. It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. Dermot stood as I approached, looking welcoming but wary. That was his usual mode. "You're home," he said, opening the door for me.

Walking inside, I kicked off my shoes and left them by the door rather than putting them away in my bedroom. Why not? _Living dangerously, Sookie._ "Where's Claude?" I asked Dermot, who hovered over me a bit too closely.

"He's at the club. He said… something about a man who makes bricks? He means a lover. I wasn't welcome tonight." He held my shoulders, stilling me so he could examine my face. Then he just kept on holding. Fairies seemed to need that and Dermot more than any others I'd known.

"How you been doing?" I shrugged his hands off gently, patting him on the shoulder as I moved past him into the kitchen. Tired as I was, I felt like I could drink a swimming pool of liquid. I wondered if that had to do with the potion. Dermot followed, so I poured a cup of orange juice for him as well.

"I'm well." He held the juice up to the light, examining it through the clear glass. Then he sniffed it.

"It's orange juice, that's all. You know, Florida's Best?" I pointed to the carton I'd left on the counter. "It's good for you. Well, it's good for humans so it might be good for you."

He wrinkled his nose as he took a sip. It was pretty adorable. I remembered Jason as a child, trying something new Gran had cooked up. Dermot took the smallest possible sip and put the cup aside. "Thank you," he said, so politely it made me smile. The guy had slept in my bed, curled around me like ivy, yet he was still distant. I guess part of that was from being crazy for so long.

"You're welcome." I rinsed both glasses and put the juice back in the fridge, wobbling as I moved. My teeth ached from how tightly I had been clenching down on them, and on my emotions as well. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Dermot steadied me with a quick grasp of my elbow. "That should be my question to you, dear niece. You . . . are not the same."

He'd sensed the blood bond once before. I should have realized he'd notice its absence straight off. "I'm not the same," I agreed, letting myself lean against him. I didn't want to cry again but I had that achy feeling behind my eyes like I might. "It's been a very long night. Someone did this to me but it's not what I wanted to happen and… and I'm not the same."

The initial blood bond had felt like an invasion but I'd grown accustomed to it, more or less. There had even been times when I'd appreciated it, most of those occurring in bed or in serious, emotionally-wrought conversations from which I needed to discern the exact meanings behind Eric's words. It was shocking to find that being stripped of the bond against my will felt like another invasion, like a violation of my body and my emotions simultaneously.

Dermot stroked his narrow hand over my hair, smoothing my head to rest against his shoulder. "I know how that feels. The way things change. The ways we lose."

"I guess you do, sure," I said, closing my eyes. _I lost Eric. I failed him and then I lost him. You don't know how that feels. Eric is a lot to lose. _Clamping off that line of thought, I let out a long, quavering breath. "I need to sleep a bit now."

He lifted me, surprising me with his strength. I kept thinking he was like Jason, physically speaking, forgetting it was only skin-deep. "Is this alright with you?" he asked before entering my bedroom.

"Yes, please. And thank you," I replied as he lowered me carefully to the mattress. He pulled the quilt up over my legs, his expression hidden by the darkness of the room. I could sense his puzzlement and concern, not in a telepathic way but just by how he held himself.

"You are not in danger?" He knelt at the bedside. "I would stay and protect you while you sleep if it would help."

"That's real sweet of you, Dermot." I started to turn him down but then I reconsidered. Eric had said that my safety was part of the deal he'd made. He said they would leave me alone. But what if he was wrong? What if Victor was faking him out long enough to get him to Texas? What if Victor sent someone here for me? "Could you stay? I think it's fine but just in case, I could use… someone." My voice cracked on the last syllable as everything I'd pushed down fought its way to the surface. I didn't want someone. I wanted Eric, damn him all the way to hell and back.

XXX

When I woke, Dermot was gone and it was dark outside but just barely. I could hear someone puttering around in the kitchen. I rose slowly from my bed. My legs felt shaky from sleeping so long. The clothes I'd worn last night to Fangtasia clung to my body with sweat. _Shower and coffee_, I thought, heading to the bathroom but the shower seemed like too much work to face without some caffeine in my system. I changed directions and made my way slowly to the kitchen instead.

I'd expected Claude but it was Pam who puttered around my sink, rinsing an empty bottle of True Blood. She looked up at me as I entered the room. "I made you coffee." She pointed at the pot. "And toast." She nudged the toaster with a finger. "I thought we should talk."

I sank down into a chair, resting my head on the table. "Thanks," I said, licking my cracked lips. I felt as though I'd swam through an ocean and drank half the saltwater in the process. "I didn't think I'd see you here. Or at all."

"Don't be an idiot. I'm your friend. I told you." She buttered my toast for me and drizzled on some honey. I gaped at her and she arched an eyebrow in response, placing my meal before me with the grace I'd more often seen her display in the middle of a battle. "I can cook, you know. Most of my lovers are human."

"I'm not surprised that you can cook." _Much._ "I'm surprised that you are here cooking for me." I took a nibble of the toast, then a sip of the coffee. Then another. It tasted like heaven.

She perched on the edge of the counter. I was too busy gulping the hot liquid as quickly as I could to ask her to find a chair. Folding her arms across her chest in a gesture that looked strangely self-protective, she said, "When Victor had me drink that hell-brew to sever my bond, I slept hard and woke up parched as a nun's twat. Besides, I know you hate me right now and I need to talk with you. Food made sense."

I put down the mug. "What do you want?"

"I couldn't stop what happened. They would have broken your bond even if I could have refused to help. I couldn't and wouldn't. The last thing Eric needs is to worry about you right now. He thinks you are safe."

_Eric_. "He wants me to have a normal life," I said in a low tone, gripping the mug between both of my hands, which were suddenly cold.

"Yes." She watched me and I watched her right back. I don't know what we were doing but I thought I'd be the first to break eye-contact. I wasn't. Pam's eyes flickered to the floor and back, a fleeting movement. "Sookie, you will never have a normal life. You aren't fully human. Your family consists of a supernatural creatures. Even your best friend is a supe and what do you think would happen there? You and the mongrel will live happily ever after now that the big, bad Viking vampire is out of the picture?"

I felt my face flush. "Pam, you have no call to say that. Sam's my friend and I'm not planning on… on _anything_."

"You might not be but he is." She waved the thought away with a shake of her head. "It's Eric I've come to speak with you about. He wanted you to have a choice and so you do. He's in Texas now, or so Victor tells me. Victor will leave you alone as long as Eric is cooperating. He holds your safety hostage for assurance that Eric is tamed."

"I didn't want this, Pam," I said. "Eric put this on me."

"He did." She crossed her long legs at the ankles, settling back against the counter. "Do you ever wonder why?"

"I haven't had time to wonder why, where or what-for! I woke up, you were here, that's that." Anger didn't stop me from crunching my way through a piece of the warm, sweet toast. "I think he was doing what he thought was best." Glaring at her, I said, "He loves me, you know."

"Yes." She blinked at me like a cat. "I know."

Picking the last crumb from my plate, I licked it off my finger. Then I laid my heavy head on one hand. "What do you want from me?"

"Eric gave you a choice: him or a normal life."

"There wasn't much choice about it," I muttered. "He's not exactly around."

"And that wasn't _exactly_ his choice. But he gave you one, so far as he could. I want you to choose. And then…" She stood and took my plate to the sink. Running water, she rinsed it. Her long, low pony tail swung slightly as she moved, like a pendulum. She found my dish towel for her hands. "Then we'll see. I have to get back before they miss me."

Sweeping past me to the door, she paused. "You smell like rot, Sookie. Go shower."

It was good advice. I took my time, shaving my legs, letting the conditioner set for ten full minutes, steaming up the bathroom so much that even the toilet paper felt damp when I got out. The air smelled of my honeysuckle shampoo, which I would normally find relaxing but there was no hope for relaxation with so much on my mind: Pam and Eric and this thing called A Normal Life.

I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, pink and damp, wrapping a smaller towel around my wet hair with my head tilted upside-down. When I straightened up, I saw Sam sitting on my bed in his collie dog form. My hands flew to my breasts. _Phew, yes, towel._ _But not much of one!_

"What are you doing?" I said, giving the dog a little push. "Get out! I don't entertain people in my bedroom when I'm half-naked."

Jumping down, Sam panted at me with one ear twitched up. He looked as close to grinning as I'd ever seen from a dog.

"Go!" I opened the door, my sudden movement nearly dislodging the towel. "Sam, go!"

He trotted out, taking his time. His tail swished high above his back like a wave or maybe a canine wink. _Nice. This is the normal part, right?_

"Do you often allow canines to sleep on your bed?"

I jumped, dislodging my breasts from the towel. Glaring at the fairy who had appeared in my room, I turned my back and re-wrapped myself. "Claude, I thought we talked about this. Privacy, remember?" I hissed, looking at the hook on the back of the bathroom door for my bathrobe. It was missing.

"Looking for this?" he asked, holding it on one extended finger. "Pink flannel. How. . ."

"It suits me just fine," I said, not dropping the towel until I'd tied the belt of the robe as snugly as it would fit. "What are you doing in my bedroom, Claude? This is so not okay!"

"What, the shifter is welcome, our uncle is welcome and I am not?" He put a look on his face that was probably meant to look hurt. It was a lot closer to a smirk.

"No one is welcome!" I shut off the bathroom light and closed the door. "Not in here. And especially not while I'm in the shower."

"Oh Sookie. You are so…" He tapped me on the shoulder like he was listening to my insides echo, like a hollow tree. "So human."

I sank down on the side of my bed. _So human._ "But I'm not, am I."

He shrugged. "You may as well be. Diluted blood, human upbringing, human behaviors, no real magic."

I shook my head. "Some real magic, or whatever telepathy is supposed to mean. It might not be fairy magic but it has a real _magical _impact on my whole entire life."

"Yes?" Claude said, glancing back over his shoulder out the window. "So?"

He did not look overtly interested but I was past caring. "So! I'm a telepath, I seem to be in the middle of some sort of courtship with my boss, who is a collie and sheds on my bed. Every living member of my family is some sort of supe. The supernatural world is all around me. I can't escape it. There is no normal life here! It all just keeps on impacting me."

"So does having blond hair and big boobs. What of it?" Claude sat down beside me. "Do you want me to pat you on the head and say 'there, there'?"

"No!" I scooted a bit away from him. "I want you to not poof into my bedroom. And I want…"

Before I had to finish that thought, he had poofed away, disappeared. I opened the window and leaned out in time to see Claude reappear beside his car_. _He drove off down the gravel as though he thought me and my emotional outburst might be chasing him. Alone again, I went about the motions of drying my hair and putting on some make-up, a heavy sadness weighing me down.

XXX

I didn't have to work that night but I wanted to go in. I needed to be with people. Claude and Dermot were gone, lord knows where. After making sure no other visitors would pop into my bedroom and that Sam had left, I dressed in my Merlotte's uniform. Why not? The truth was sad and simple: I had no place else to go.

On the short drive to the bar, I thought of Eric. It was natural to wonder what was happening to him but I put a cork in that line of thinking before it matured into full-out horror movie stuff. Nothing good could come of that and anyway, wasn't that why Eric had severed our bond, so I wouldn't know? _I told him knowing was better than imagining._

I wondered what Pam was plotting and how my choice, Eric or no Eric, fit into her plans. It was huge in my mind, that I had this choice to make. So often, I felt like I ran from one situation to the next, reacting, rather than enacting. Not this time.

Merlotte's was busy. The dinner crowd had gone but the drinkers were arriving so the place was noisy and chaotic. Just the way I liked it. I walked through to the back, ignoring both the snippets of thoughts I picked up as well as the drunken wave from Jane Bodehouse, reeling on her barstool already. Sam would be in his office since he didn't seem to be manning the bar.

I opened the door without knocking, which was a mistake. Sam was on the phone and looked very serious. He motioned for me to come in. I caught only bits of the conversation, enough to make out that he was discussing airline tickets. _Probably for his brother's wedding_, I realized. Pain twisted a knot inside of me at the thought. It seemed like a betrayal of Eric to go now. I'd be so close to him. Well, maybe not. Texas was a big state. But we'd be flying in through Dallas, it seemed.

When he hung up the phone, Sam took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Hey Sook," he said, smiling at me in a mild way that didn't reach his eyes. "Sorry about earlier. Did you need something?"

_Need something? No… oh, right, I came to his office._ "No, I don't need anything. I just… the house was so quiet and I didn't have anything to do."

"Sit, stay a while." He stretched back into his chair. "I wanted to talk with you."

_Big night for that._ "I want to thank you for coming with me to Fangtasia and seeing me home."

"That's nothing between friends." He waited until I'd gotten comfortable in the heavy chair on the far side of his desk. "I've got the plane tickets for the wedding. Two of them, leaving the day after tomorrow. Can you still come along?"

"Sure, Sam," I said automatically, wincing inside. "I told you I would."

"But things have changed since then, right?" He tilted his head, giving me a level gaze. "You still feel okay about being my date?"

"It's not a _date_- date. Right? So, of course, it's fine."

His eyes were blazing blue. I couldn't make myself meet them for more than a second. He ran his fingers through his hair in an absent way. "What if it were a date, a real one. Would you come?"

"I… I don't know, Sam." I twisted around in my seat to look longingly at the door. This wasn't why I'd come. "Eric…"

"Eric wanted you to have a normal life. He freed you from himself and from his vampires so that you could do just that." He spread out his arms. "This is as normal as you're likely to get, Sookie. You and me, we click together well. You like me. I like you. We could make something here. Something strong. Something good and safe."

I jumped to my feet. His eyes widened in something like anticipation before deflating into disappointment as I paced farther away rather than throwing myself into his lap. "Sam, you aren't wrong, you know? Nothing you said is wrong."

His lips pressed into a narrow, white line. "So why aren't you happy?"

"Because I knew, Sam. All this time, I knew that if I wanted you and your strong, good, safe life, I could have it." That sounded bad but it was the truth. "I like you a lot, I do. You know I do. And there's chemistry, sure. But I…" I swallowed hard around the lump that rose in my throat. "I love Eric."

Sam leapt to his feet, his chair crashing backwards. "Eric left you, Sookie. He doesn't want you. He doesn't want your love, not like this."

"Eric was arrested and is right now in some kind of prison in _Texas_," I retorted, twining my shaking hands together. "Eric wants me but he loves me more. He let me go to try to help me."

"It was the only right thing he has ever done!" Sam spread both hands flat on his desk and leaned towards me. "Get over him, Sookie. Take what you have been given, this second chance to have something lasting and something… something clean."

As I opened my mouth to respond, an image imposed itself on my mind. Eric, pale and beautiful, his blond hair framing our faces as he stretched his body over mine like a shelter. His mouth against mine, kissing me so deeply, the taste of him in my mouth as fresh, as clean, as water. As necessary. I blinked hard and shook my head. Sam waited, breathing hard, watching me.

"Sam, whatever Eric wants… it doesn't matter. He did what he thought was best, just like you are. I have to do what I think is best too." I stepped toward him and kissed him on the cheek, a grazing touch. He stood, rigid as stone, only his eyes showing more than anger. They showed a sadness that I had to ignore. "If you want me at the wedding, you have to be prepared to let me find Eric in Texas when it's through."

He shook his head, bowing it low so I couldn't see his expression. His shoulders said it all though, tense but drooping. "It's crazy to go after Eric. He's a prisoner. He can't protect you from them. Crazy bordering on suicidal."

I thought of Pam. "Maybe. I hope not but maybe."

"They might not even let you see him."

I shrugged. "Maybe. That doesn't change anything. I've made up my mind."

Huffing, he looked up at the ceiling, searching for patience. "I don't want you at the wedding. Nothing personal. If you aren't coming, I'll drive. It'd would be too … false, I guess, having you there."

I felt like I could breathe evenly again. "Alright. That's fine. I understand. Sam, I'm sorry."

"Don't." Picking up his head, he shook it again, wryly this time, with a trace of his normal good humor returning. "You can use the plane ticket, if you want to. If you think that's what you need to do."

I kissed his other cheek. "I'll let you know."

XXX

I drove home from Merlotte's with every intention of phoning Pam immediately once I got in. My argument with Sam had been many things; most important of all of these was that it had helped me to choose my path. Push come to shove, a normal life was a myth and I wanted Eric, safe and sound and back with me if at all possible. Once again, it came down to killing Victor. Pam was the first step to this end. I had to imagine that was her plan as well. We could deal with Stan afterwards.

It was close to midnight when I turned down my lane. I heard the sirens a half-second before I saw the flashing lights of a fire truck in front of my house. _Not again. _Gravel flew as I sped up my driveway.

A police cruiser belonging to Andy was there though I didn't see him anyplace nearby. The fire fighters had their backs to me, hosing water onto my house that seemed to be doing very little to stop the destruction. Smoke plumed up towards the sky. I cried out in wordless grief as I saw the fire had consumed the top of the house on the front side. My bedroom window was open; smoke and flames waved out. The attic was an inferno. I'd never know what had been up there.

"Sookie Stackhouse!" I heard Andy shout from around the side of the house.

"Andy!" I ran toward him, shivering despite the heat.

He was a comforting sight, for all of our conflicts. Solid as a brick with a head twice as hard, Andy would always be there, for better or worse. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry. The fire started someplace inside, they tell me. It's a hot one."

"Oh," I said in a whisper. I stared at the flames until my eyes burned. _Oh Gran, I'm sorry._

"Want me to call your brother?" Andy shifted from foot to foot. The comforting of women was not something that came to him naturally. "Halleigh would come and sit with you too, if you want. Or uh, I could call Bill Compton."

"Bill's out of town," I said in the same quiet voice. I felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the world for me to draw in a solid breath. "Jason's… out." It was the night before the full moon. "I don't need Halleigh but thanks anyway."

I squinted through the smoky night at a sudden movement by the tree line, where my yard ended and my woods began. A slim figure with golden hair stood beside a man whose features I could just barely discern. Pam and Victor. Pam looked blank, as if someone had wiped her personality clean away. Victor was anything but expressionless. The light of the fire glinted off his teeth as he grinned and put up his hand in a wave. Once he was sure I'd seen them, the two melted into the darkness as if they'd never been.

"Sookie? What about Sam?" Andy was still talking, I realized. "Sam would come, right?"

A loud popping noise resonated from inside the house as something heated up past its breaking point. Maybe it was one of the heirlooms that had passed down through the Stackhouses, generation after generation, ending with me, the false Stackhouse, the one who let it all get ruined. "I don't need Sam," I said. "I need to take a drive."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

If I were the heroine of some girl power, Thelma and Louise-type movie, my drive would have ended at Fangtasia, where I would have found Victor Madden gloating over the destruction of my home- and, basically, my entire life- and beat him down, vampire strength suddenly no issue. But I was not that superwoman. I was me, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic barmaid. I could read your mind but not break your bones; just me, with the addition of an enormous hankering for Victor's final death.

As I drove to the bank to make the largest cash withdrawal of my life- _gulp_- I considered everything I knew. Exhibit A: the fire had been set from inside, which made Pam my arsonist. Victor's invitation had long been rescinded. Exhibit B: Victor wanted me on the run. I hadn't grown up in a place where most people hunt without learning that if you want to get your game, you give your game no place to hide.

Exhibit C: This wasn't something Victor was doing out in the open. How did I know this? He had held to the deal he'd made with Eric: he hadn't harmed a hair on my head. This gave him an argument should his activities ever come to light. He'd taken only Pam with him to burn my house to the ground. Even Heidi had been absent; Heidi, over whom Victor had such heartbreaking leverage as a vulnerable son.

The possibility that he had sent Pam to ascertain when I'd left, leading to her visit with the coffee and honey toast, occurred to me. It was feasible, even likely. I shivered, clenching my hand around the steering wheel.

His control over Pam was a problem. I wondered about her mental health. Like Eric, Pam had always seemed so capable, like the last person whose well-being I would ever need to worry about. She was not one to quibble over guilt. I hoped Victor was treating her well, other than forcing her to burn down the home of her ex-maker's ex-honey, also known to Victor as her avowed friend. I also hoped this friendship meant that she had protested what they'd done but I knew she'd have no choice in the matter: throw the match or else, when _else_ meant any manner of sick thing, knowing Victor as I, unfortunately, did. I felt ill for her, for me and for Eric too.

I wished Eric could see me now. _See me kick ass._ Or plan to, anyway.

The bank was closed, of course, but the ATM worked fine. I took what it would let me, adding it to what I'd kept in my purse. I was the proud, if nervous, owner of a single credit card. I used it to buy my own e-ticket to Dallas. Sam's offer had been sweet but I could not take him up on it and live with myself. Crushing his hopes had been hard enough.

The only stop I made on the way to the airport was at Walmart. As far as I could tell, everything I owned was ash. I bought a small suitcase and filled it with simple clothing and toiletries, thankful that the maroon jacket from Eric had been safe in my car truck. Halfway to the register, I realized I'd forgotten pajamas, which reminded me that I'd need to find a place to sleep in Dallas. Someplace to regroup my group-of-one and figure out my plan.

_Ha, my plan._ Gran always said that the best way to make God laugh was to make a plan. As I loaded my new suitcase into the trunk and pulled the jacket around my cold shoulders, I remembered the strange bitterness that had crept into her voice when she'd said it. Maybe she had been recalling her fertility issues or maybe I thought that because _I _recalled her fertility issues- and their resulting genetic complications- overly much.

There was no plan, just a lot of need. And some panic.

XXX

I was nearly to the airport parking lot before I realized that I'd better phone Sam. He'd need to call in a temporary worker since I wasn't sure when I'd be back. The line rang and rang but he didn't answer. The light of the nearly-full moon reflected off my phone screen, reminding me that he was probably out with the other shifters. I left a message. He'd be expecting it. Even now, canine or not, he was probably thinking I'd swallowed the biggest-ever idiot pill.

The airport was nearly deserted. This was fine with me. I did the necessary steps to prove to the authorities I wasn't a terrorist, however unlikely it was that I might be. The woman manning the x-ray machine waved me through, her entire thought processes focused not on weapons but on a fight she'd had with her boyfriend earlier and where he might be spending the night while she had to work. "Don't worry," I said, giving her a smile as I collected stuff off the belt. "You deserve better anyway."

In my mood, it felt good to see her gape at me. Her astonishment followed me all the way down the hall to the gate. As I boarded the plane, I stretched, a second wind filling me with energy. I was doing something, not just sitting around waiting for the next catastrophe. No one knew I was here, not Eric, not Pam, no one. Whatever befell me, it was my doing and mine alone. And my doing would lead me straight to Eric, with any bit of luck. _And a plan, Sook. Remember that?_

I had a window seat and no seatmates. That suited me fine. I wasn't afraid to fly, which was a little surprising since I was no expert at it. I accepted a cup of Coke from the sleepy stewardess- no, flight attendant. I put one of the miniature cardboardish pillows behind the small of my back. Then I focused on my strategy.

Victor wanted me to do this. Why else would he burn down my house? He had to have known I'd go to Eric right away, not to free him but as a visitor, applying to Stan to talk with Eric alone about the burning down of my house. He must have supposed I'd be scared for my life.

I was scared for my life, and Eric's, and Pam's too. But the fear was buried far beneath an avalanche of rage. Enough was enough. Victor would make an appearance in Dallas during the next day or two, I was sure of it. He'd sent me here by the burning of my house because I was Eric's weak spot. Pam was right about that. It seemed slavery in Texas wasn't enough for Victor's purposes. He would use me to take Eric down permanently, however he could.

_I can't let that happen. _Reaching into my purse, I touched my phone, about to turn it off for the flight. As grittily committed to my path as I was, I still wished I could call someone for help. I wanted to use my lifeline, like on _Who Wants to be a Millionaire_. I perused the numbers I had stored in the phone in an idle way, not intending to dial, just daydreaming about the potential. Eric had added a few people "in case of emergency" but I didn't think this counted as an emergency. It was way bigger than that.

Seeing _Felipe Del Castro_ typed in, coming after Eric and before Holly, was a shock to my tired brain. A good shock; a light bulb moment. I shut off the phone and tucked it away with great care. It was truly my lifeline now and, with some luck, Eric's as well.

XXX

As soon as I'd found my way, via the perky teenager manning the Hertz desk, to a cheap –but-not-disgusting hotel, I let my suitcase stay by the door, flopped back on the bed and phoned Pam. It went to voicemail, which was a scary proposition as I was sure Victor would be nearby. Then again, if he wanted me to go to Eric, he wouldn't mind this message. "I need to know where they are keeping Eric. Otherwise, I'll be going by the house where Stan lived when I was here before with Bill. If that's the wrong place, call me." I licked my dry lips, thinking hard. "Pam, I believe everything you ever told me," I finished and hung up.

I had another call to place, to Nevada, but it wasn't something I could leave on a voicemail. It would wait until dark.

After a heavenly shower to sluice away the airplane grime, I changed quickly into a pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt. The jeans had that scratchy new-denim feel but I was happy to be clean and they seemed durable, which was better than cute at this point. I started to head out the door, only to freeze in my step. _Duh, Sookie. Daylight._ And it wouldn't be dark for at least four more hours. I paced back and forth by the door, wanting more than anything to rush out and … not save the day. It wasn't time for that yet. But just to see Eric, to let him know I was there, to _see _him…

Okay, at least this time I was eager to _not_ be the bad girlfriend who leaves her boyfriend in a cage for two weeks without calling. I rested on the bed, certain I'd never be able to relax enough to nap but sleep found me before I even finished the thought.

XXX

The exterior of Stan's house had been remodeled since I'd seen it last, though it still looked as Joe Normal (huge) as it had back then. I remembered walking up to the door with Bill, terrified but trying not to look it. All bravado, all the time. Stan was the first contact I'd had within America's larger vampire political community, outside of Shreveport. I'd learned a lot in this house.

The sun had only just lowered beyond the horizon, which was just when I'd hoped to arrive. Eric would be awake and the other old ones too but not the entire nest. I wanted a chance to check out the property a bit, gather myself and see if anything felt off. I parked down the street a ways and strolled up the lovely sidewalk lined with flowering trees. No wonder vampires had been so successful at hiding themselves amongst us, I thought, taking in the richness and beauty in which Stan had chosen to live.

The cell phone in my pocket began to vibrate. I opened it and said, "Hi Pam."

"You are in Dallas?" Her voice was casual.

"I came to see Eric. Is he at Stan's house, the one Bill and I were at before?"

"To my knowledge," she replied. "That may not mean much."

"I'll let you know soon," I said. "How… how are you?"

"Well enough." There was a silence on her end, and then she coughed a little. "I'm sorry, Sookie. Truly."

_My house. All those generations. The stuff in the attic, whatever it was. _"I know. Pam, I do know. It's not your fault." Clenching the phone hard, I said, "I know who to blame. I'm here, aren't I?"

Another loaded pause. "Yes," she said finally. "I do believe you are. Did you notice the alterations I made to your cell phone?"

"That was you?"

"The other morning," she confirmed. "You were missing something that will help."

Huh. "Victor's not there, is he."

"Not at this exact moment, no. He is not far though. He's never far."

"Pam…" I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry too. What… what can you tell me?" _Tell me what to do. I have a plan but I could use your brain, use your experience, so much. I'm in over my head and that might get us all killed. _"Can you help me?"

"I've done what I can. You can do this."

"Uh-huh," I said, unconvinced.

"The weather in Nevada is lovely this time of year," she said. "Good luck."

I held onto the phone after she hung up, finding it difficult to end the contact. Fear wouldn't get me anyplace though. If I was going to give into that, I may as well high-tail it back to Bon Temps. _ Not gonna happen._

Walking up the driveway and across the tiny front yard, I hoped to be undiscovered for a minute, to give myself time to look around with my regular and special senses. But it seemed the place was under surveillance. The door swung open before I could knock. It was a surprise to see Heidi holding it open for me. Victor's Heidi. Or maybe not; it had never been made clear to me whose child she was, only that her maker was from Las Vegas and Victor had sent her to Eric.

"Joseph is waiting for you," she said simply, waving me inside.

"Um, oh?" I hesitated but pushed on in past her. The house was beautiful, as though nothing bad had ever happened here. I couldn't remember exactly how it had looked before the bombing but there was no sign of any damage from that attack. No one was in sight but the place felt full of those odd, empty-full spaces I could sense as belonging to a vampire mind.

"In here," Heidi said. "Dining room."

"Okay." I followed her, disquieted by her presence. "When did you get into town?"

"Before you did," she said without turning to face me, her flat tone warning me off of asking anything more. I remembered how young she was for a vamp, only twenty or so. Just a baby. Master vampires didn't let their babies leave the nest without direction. She wasn't here as her own person.

Joseph Velasquez sat alone at the far end of the banquet-size dining table. His spiky hair gave him a young punk look though his eyes were old and disturbingly emotionless. "Welcome, Miss Stackhouse. Or is it Mrs. Northman?"

"Sookie works just fine," I said, smiling wide in my nervousness. I took a seat without waiting to be asked, close to Joseph but not too close. "I hope you'll forgive me for showing up like this without calling y'all first."

He waved a hand. "It is nothing, though I'm afraid the king is not available to greet you."

I'd figured on that. As far as I knew, the king was still so injured from Rhodes, he would be buried underground someplace or at the very least, sequestered for his own safety while Joseph ran the state. "That's fine. I hope your king is healing up well."

Joseph nodded in acceptance of my well-wishes. "How may we help you?"

_Aren't we so polite? Just good friends here, nothing to see, move it along._ "I'd like to talk with Eric." I folded my hands on the table top, mindful of the way the damp heat from my palms fogged the shiny surface. "My husband. Is he…" I blinked hard against a sudden wash of emotion. _Eric. _"Is he here?"

"Yes, yes. And certainly, that would be the reason for your visit. To talk." He examined me like an insignificant bug that might or might not have a poisonous sting. "Heidi tells me that Victor has approved."

_Huh? _"Yes," I replied dumbly, wondering if burning down my house constituted a note of approval. "Is Eric… well?"

"Well enough," Joseph said. "Cooperative. Unhappy but whole and supplied with blood and a room of his own."

The ball of tension I'd carried with me ever since I'd last seen Eric loosened. Even as I took a deep, unfettered breath of relief, my heart rate sped up. "I'd like to see him."

Joseph tilted his head towards Heidi, who stood. "She will take you."

"Yeah?"My tone was so skeptical, I cringed at myself for breaking the façade of courtesy we'd had. It popped out of my mouth before I could stop myself because, well, this all seemed too easy. Sure, Sookie, c'mon in, we're all friends here? I didn't doubt his sincerity: I knew flat-out he was false.

That said, I'd be safer pretending right along with him, as long as it got me to Eric. "That's great. Thanks," I said, smiling so wide, my lips smarted at the corners. "I'll just… go now, then."

He watched us leave the room at Heidi's slow pace, his gaze a physical sensation on the back of my neck. It felt like spiders crawling underneath my hair. Ugh. As soon as she closed the door behind us, I said, "Heidi, have you seen Eric?"

"Once," she said as we started down a long stairway to what seemed to be a basement level. She didn't seem willing to expand on that.

I wanted to push past her and run but I didn't know where Eric was. That frustrated me to no end. I wanted the blood bond back. I wanted- no, needed- to know more than I could without it. Disconnected from Eric, I was flying blind through a storm.

It was an odd basement, obviously remodeled for a large group of vampires. No windows, one expansive hallway with rooms off either side, some of which had open doors that revealed bunk-style dormitories. The place had a new paint smell to it and I realized this must be some sort of emergency shelter. Smart of Stan, or Joseph, to learn from the aftermath of Katrina. Or maybe, I thought, surveying the amount of weapons stored in several of the empty rooms, they'd learned from the downfall of Sophie-Anne and Louisiana. This wasn't just a shelter, it was a military bunker.

The house was so quiet. All of the vampires seemed to be upstairs, judging by the sensation of their minds. They must have been ordered to stay away from me, which seemed odd. I wondered who was deemed a threat to whom: me to them or them to me. It made little sense that Joseph would protect me but even less sense that he'd deem little, human me a threat to vampires. Maybe they were just busy with something else.

The hallway snaked around two corners before Heidi stopped at a closed door made of metal. It was silver. She looked me square in the eyes for the first time since my arrival. I was alarmed to see she looked regretful. "What is it?" I asked, closing my hand around the doorknob since Heidi couldn't touch it.

"Go on in. I'll wait out here for you." She leaned in close to me and whispered, "Be careful."

I paused. She didn't seem like a bad person. She deserved some warning. "Heidi, your king should be calling Joseph soon. I thought you should know."

"Yes," she said. Her blank look came back but her warning stuck with me. "I was told."

Unsure of how to respond to that, I said, "Okay then. Good."

When she sat down on the hallway floor to wait, I turned and opened the door. It felt like entering a freezer. It was a freezer, I realized, the walk-in kind most commonly seen in large restaurants and cafeterias. As the heavy door swung shut behind me, I shivered and felt around in the darkness for a light switch. I found nothing.

"You shouldn't have come." Eric's voice was cold as the air surrounding us. I wished I could see him. Dropping to my knees, I felt my way forward, towards his voice. "Sookie, what do you think you are doing?"

My knee hit something hard. Wincing, I couldn't stop myself from snapping, "A wife's place is with her husband, isn't that so?"

Eric snorted. I'd know that sound of wry amusement anywhere. He was close. I kept moving. "You have told me over and over that you do not consider us married."

"But you do. And anyway, Eric, where do you get off telling me to go on home and forget about you? It's my life, buster. Damn straight, and you know it." I had no idea what I was saying, really, just that I wanted to keep him talking. My hands cramped against the frigid metal of the floor.

"Sookie." Just that one word, so full of sadness. "Stand up."

I did and promptly knocked my head against something so hard, I cried out. Whatever it was swung slightly and came back to hit me again. I sank back to my knees. "What in hell?" I said, unable to keep the whimper from coming out. "Eric?"

"Clap your hands," he said.

Touching my sore head gingerly, I said, "I didn't come here to amuse you."

"Lover, clap your hands. I don't know how much time we have. Clap."

I did, sharply, and a light came on, dim but better than nothing. _Clap on, clap off. _"Why didn't you just do that before?"

"Look up."

I did and found the underside of a silver cage. It swung slightly from four chains holding it aloft, connected to heavy metal braces in the ceiling. Inside, Eric sat on a square of cloth, cross-legged and still, the world's biggest pet bird in the world's most expensive bird cage.

His hair was a tangle. He wore nothing at all, which couldn't be good under these conditions. He was burned across several areas and there was a certain odor of charred flesh in the air. For all this, he grinning at me, his eyes alight with joy despite his words. My head hurt and after seeing his condition, so did my heart but I beamed right back at him, equally an idiot, filled with love.

"If I lower down my arm, I think I can pull you through the bars."

"It'll burn you." _Please, please._

He ignored that and two seconds later, I found myself inside the cage with him. "Look at you," I said, still smiling but teary too. "Why do you keep burning yourself?"

He hauled me into his lap on the cloth. Thrusting my head into the crook of his neck, he buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. "It's a small cage. I'm a large man. I must stretch occasionally. Also, they force me to reach down for my True Blood. Cowards, all of them, to be afraid of a man in such bindings."

I cared about his burns, of course, but in that moment, I didn't care too much. I just wanted to keep on holding him. My arms wrapped hard around his ribs. I stroked his back, his neck, everything I could reach. Inching back, I pushed his hair back from his face. The strands were sticky with dried blood and matted together.

He wrinkled his nose like the tough guy Viking he was. "It's a mess. The band broke when they put me into this box and I've been… agitated. The silver makes eating difficult."

_It must be love. I don't even care about the puked-up blood in his hair. _Taking down my ponytail, I arranged his hair into as neat a queue as I could manage. "There, good as new," I lied, sitting down in front of him. I had to be able to see his face for this but I couldn't keep myself from touching him just a little, my knees bumping his, reassuring me that we were together. "Are we, uhm, alone?"

"Not at all." He pointed to the corner of the room, where a security camera hung. "Wave to Joseph now, my love."

"And Heidi is waiting out in the hall." I tapped my knee, thinking. "Ocella's and Alexei's ashes are at my house. Pam collected them for you, as best she could. Grass, you know?"

Raising one eyebrow, Eric said, "Yes, so she said. How is our Pam faring?"

"Right as rain. I hadn't realized that she cooked." Eric's hand covered mine on my knee, stopping my nervous tapping. "She's Victor's now, huh?"

"Yes." He watched me closely, aware I was up to something.

"And you?" My voice dropped to a whisper. "What about you?"

His eyes widened. "I am my own."

"Ah," I said, so relieved, I felt like crying. Covering for that, I coughed. "Are they treating you well?"

"As well as an untrustworthy animal." Eric surveyed his cage. "Even the room is lined with silver. Sookie, it's maddening but it could be worse."

Scooting forward, I nestled my cheek against the smooth, icy skin of his chest. His big hand cupped the back of my head. "Don't be mad at me for coming here."

"I'm not mad at you. I am considering your sanity, however. Coming here was foolish. Dangerous." He squeezed my neck just hard enough to get his point across. "They won't let you stay long, you know. I am happy to see you but how can I let them take you from me? Could you not just stay at home and live as a normal woman?"

I wasn't sure if I should tell him that I had no home now. He couldn't do a thing about it, sitting here like Tweety. "I couldn't," I said, settling on the most relevant explanation. "Eric, normal isn't something I can have. It's not even something I want anymore."

Grasping my shoulders, he moved me away from him enough to meet my eyes. "You want to be sitting here in my prison?"

"No. I want you." I cupped his cheeks, brushing my thumbs across the sharp lines of his bones. "I love you. I couldn't stay away."

With an inarticulate sound, he drew me back into his body and held me close. I could feel a series of shudders course through him. Around us, the cage swung in a lazy line. I closed my eyes and pushed into Eric's body as hard as I could, willing him to find comfort, wanting more than anything to have Claude's ability to wink us both out of here, safe to the comfort of my bedroom. It startled me to realize that my bedroom no longer existed. When my tears finally fell, I wasn't the only one crying.

We sat there together for a long, long while, swinging in the freezing air.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

I'm a Southern girl, through and through. The cold has never agreed with me. Even if I'd grown up in Alaska, the freezer would have been a bit much to handle, especially after several hours. Especially with a six-plus foot long fleshy ice cube wrapped around me, dead to the world.

Heidi never came back in and Eric fell asleep on me. I'd say he cried himself to sleep, which was the truth, but it sounded so strange connected with the name of the Sheriff of Area Five. Knowing the proximity of so much silver wacked out his physical and mental state in many ways, I'd simply relaxed back as much as possible and tried to get some sleep myself. I wasn't leaving him for anything.

Hours passed, during which Eric was a lopsided statue and I slept and woke, slept and woke, like a mother with a newborn, checking to see that he was still with me. We may as well have been the only two people in the world. The very, very chilly world.

At some point, someone outside of our room turned off the cold air, bringing us up to a temperature that wouldn't give me hypothermia. The difference felt far too slight. It couldn't be a vampire, obviously, who'd thought of the temperature's influence on human me. _Barry Bellhop._ I'd nearly forgotten him all together. I sent him a silent _thank you _but he didn't respond.

I knew the sun had risen by feeling Eric's body shift. It wasn't much of a change but he seemed _gone_ in a different way. Time dragged by. I plotted in my head, searching for holes in my plan, and tried to ignore the (many) possible crater-sized gaps I found. So much depended on Felipe de Castro and our value to him. Equally as much depended on Victor, which gave me an additional cause to shiver.

When Eric finally began to stir, I'd just about driven myself insane with worry over all the precarious details. Besides which, spending an entire twenty-four hours in a gigantic bird cage would make anyone twitchy. I didn't know how Eric had managed it as long as he had, especially considering he'd just come off two weeks in a similar cage in Shreveport, damn Victor straight to hell.

He sat up sharply and drew in upon himself, carefully ensuring his entire body was situated on the patch of silver-sparing cloth. It took him a few seconds to wake up all the way. I sat back and waited. The last thing he needed was for me to startle him. Finally, he seemed to be with me. "You stayed," he said, blinking at me, as astonished as I'd ever seen him. He's a hard man to surprise. "You should have snuck away while we all slept."

_Seriously? _"I am not leaving you. Hear me? Not. Leaving. You." My teeth chattered. "Might as well give it up, honey." I was in love with an idiot.

The glare he shot at me said he was thinking much the same thing. "Hear _me. _I will never give up taking care of you."

"Whatever," I said, shoving my wrist at him. So not the time to quibble over something we'd never get resolved in this cage. "Drink."

He laughed. I wanted to dump him right out of the cage onto his gorgeous ass and my face must have told him as much because he laughed even harder. "Sookie, all I've heard from you since the beginning is how restricted by our bond you felt, how much you disliked it, how you could never tell when it impacted your emotions. At great risk, I saw you freed from it. And now you tell me you want it back?"

"If you keep getting yourself into trouble, I'm gonna need it!" I couldn't believe him. Here I was, having come all this way only to have him laugh in my face. Taking a deep, calming breath, I counted to ten. Slowly. "Eric, I did hate it. And it made me afraid, and resentful. Confused too. But that's in the past. Maybe someday, when our lives are calm…"

"Our lives may never be calm."

"Well, maybe, maybe not. What I'm saying is that I want to know where you are when we're not together. If I can't get you out of this mess, if my plan gets screwed up and they keep you away from me, I need to know…" To my dismay, I burst into tears.

Eric's arms were around me before I could stop them. "Shh, my lover." He gave great soothe, despite his tough guy appearance.

Rubbing my wet cheek against his shoulder, I sniffed hard. "My house is gone. Victor made Pam burn it down. He's after you and he's not going to stop and he knows I'm your Achilles' heel." The words poured out of me. "I have nothing. Even Sam will never feel the same way about me after all of this. I think Claude was away when the fire started and I'm sure he's fine but he's lost a home too. All of my things, all of _Gran's_ things, the family pictures, the heirlooms, the china…"

"That hideous afghan," he whispered, rocking me in his lap just enough to set the cage to swinging.

One of those icky laugh/snuffle combinations snorted out of my nose. "I loved that afghan. I loved my house."

"I know you did." His hand stroked calmness into me, though tension sang through him in a pitch that resonated straight through my skin. "So you came here, alone."

"Yep. The only person who could have maybe helped me was Claude and he's useless around a bunch of fairy-happy vamps. Dermot too, even if he was stable enough. Jason's useless except as muscle and he's got his own life to live. I couldn't risk him. Sam… well, he and I had words. I didn't even see him after the fire. I got out of town as fast as I could."

"Are you certain it was Victor?"

"I saw him there, with Pam. He wanted me to see him. I think he wanted to get me to run here, to you. I don't know why though."

"Why indeed," he mused. When Eric thinks, it's like power-thinking. I could almost hear little _click-click-click _sounds as the wheels in his brain spun round and round. "Two things: Your coming to me could be perceived as a violation of my agreement with him. But that's not why he did this. I think he wanted you out of the way. Not just you but others as well. Anyone who might report back to Felipe is at risk."

I rocked back on my heels. Scrubbing at my damp face with both hands, I wished for a wet cloth, for a shower. "You think he's made his move to take over Louisiana?"

"I think he has," he confirmed, his eyes far away. "You're here. Heidi is here. Who else?"

"I dunno. When I came in, all the vamps were upstairs. Only Joseph and Heidi were around."

"That couldn't have been a coincidence. They must have some of my people here, people they thought you might recognize. It would be the strongest of them, the ones Victor couldn't intimidate."

I remembered why that didn't matter. "It's okay, Eric. This might be the safest place for them now. Um, I know this is awkward for you, being out of the loop and all, but I have a plan. I think it'll work."

Eric spread his arms out wide, palms up. His fingertips touched either side of the cage but he didn't even flinch. "I'm all ears," he said.

"Felipe doesn't want you dead. He told me to bring you to him in Las Vegas, that he'd call up Joseph and Stan and take care of your release."

He arched an eyebrow. "They are letting me go?"

"No." I cleared my throat, flushing. "Your temporary release. I'm sorry," I said rapidly. "That's all I could get him to agree to. Stan is not under Felipe's jurisdiction and can only be 'heavily negotiated with', not forced." Though I got the feeling that those negotiations sound something like, 'You're weak and vulnerable but I'm strong and can squish you and your state right up if I want to'.

"That sounds right," Eric said. "Temporary is better than not at all. Even if Felipe could get Stan to release me permanently, we'd still be right back where this began, with Victor usurping my Area."

"No, I don't think so," I said, my nerves afire. _Please don't hate me for this_. "You know how us being married gives you the right, in the eyes of the vamp community, to make some decisions for me?"

Eric reached for my hands. "Yes," he said in a careful tone. "That is true. We are considered to be as one, for most things."

"Yeah, I know. So, I was thinking about what we could do to get you out from under Victor's thumb. Killing him would be good but then you'd just be facing Felipe's wrath for offing his lieutenant. I had to think of a way to get Victor fired and you reinstated, free and clear."

"Yes?"

I licked my lips, unable to meet his eyes. "In your office during the trial, Pam told me that an unclaimed vampire is always in danger, that someone stronger can take you and be your new maker if your ties to your old one are gone. Well… your ties to Ocella ended when he died, right?"

"And you got Felipe to agree to be my new master."

There was nothing on his face or in his voice to give me a hint about how he felt. "Not quite. I got him to consider it."

"He will not do it for free. You know that, right?"

I knew more about that than I could reveal without him throwing a fit and screwing up the whole works. "He's getting you out of here, out of this cage, as long as you reaffirm your vow to obey his authority. He'll talk with us. That's the only thing we need to think about right now." I scooted forward until I was almost back in Eric's lap. "That and this," I said, bending my neck to the side. "Please, Eric. You know this isn't easy for me."

He allowed himself to be distracted from the plotting. Strands of hair that had escaped his messy ponytail brushed against me as he leaned in. His lips kissed over the skin of my neck so softly that I knew he was giving in.

"Come on, Eric. I need you to do this." I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed his mouth down hard. "Please," I said. "Please. I can't go through the worry again."

When he struck, I cried out. I didn't mean to but it hurt. He moaned and drank, enclosing me within the confines of his long arms and legs. I squeezed him hard, thankful just to be with him, thankful for his life.

Then he was licking closed the wound and it was my turn. Neither of us had anything sharp with which to cut him and human teeth aren't designed to do this job. "I'd give you my neck if I could reach," he said and used his fangs to puncture his wrist.

I put it to my mouth and drank, focusing on the deep blue of his eyes to ignore the fact that it was blood I was ingesting. Even after all this time, it still gave me pause. He never flinched, never looked away. I knew he never would.

"Someone's coming," he said finally, reclaiming his arm. He stood, holding me slightly behind him. I was a little woozy-headed but not bad. "Sookie, are you sure you know everything Felipe's planning?"

_Hell no. I'm sure I don't know even half of it_. _I'm your wife and the woman Felipe promised to keep safe but I'm still just a worker bee and a human one at that. But he's our only shot at winning here._

Just as I was about to tell Eric as much, the heavy door swung open. Barry Bellhop entered the room, holding a bathrobe. He was followed by a man I'd know anywhere.

"Hello Bill," Eric said.

XXX

Bill wore a cape with a hood. It was heavy, like it had been made from the same stuff the dentist puts on you during x-rays to keep some of the bad stuff away. It looked ridiculous but I didn't care. I was so happy to see a friendly face, even one as serious as Bill's.

Barry tossed the robe up at the cage. I snagged it through the bars and gave it to Eric, still naked as a jaybird.

"Bill!" I should have known he'd be here, as one of the vampires Victor would view as a threat.

"You shouldn't be in this room." Eric said, shrugging his way into the enormous robe. "The silver will harm you, even with the protective gear. You're still weak from your last exposure."

"Never mind that," Bill said. "I have Judith here if it gets bad." He looked me up and down. "How are you faring there, Sookie?"

"Me, oh, I'm just fine," I said. "Has Felipe talked with Joseph and Stan yet?"

"That's what Joseph tells me," he replied.

Barry hit a button on a panel on the wall. The chains of the cage rattled as we were lowered to the floor. "You're free to go for now," he told Eric, unlocking the door. The hinges complained as it opened. "Your king has made a deal with mine. Someone has agreed to stand in for you here until you come back."

My mouth dropped as Bill walked into the cage and swung shut the door with a heavily-gloved hand. "Bill? Why are you doing this? You can't be in here. It's not good for you."

"Heidi spoke with me. I'll stay here until you two are finished with Felipe. Victor doesn't know." Bill looked at no one but me. "Be fast. Eric's right, the silver builds up quickly once you've been poisoned badly enough."

I wasn't sure what to think. "Judith… will they let you drink from her?"

"That's why she's here."

Eric shook his head. "This is not right. Someone else could do this. Maxwell, perhaps. You need your strength and I owe you protection as your Sheriff."

"You are no longer my Sheriff. You are nothing to me now. Victor has taken your place. He's stolen what you hold most dear." Bill's gaze stuck to me like glue. "Now you know. Rejoice in it, as I have."

_Ouch. And melodrama much?_ "But… Judith… your letter said you were happy."

Bill smiled at me gently. "I hoped that letter would make you feel better. I knew you were worried. Judith is a lovely woman, Sookie, but she will never be you."

I didn't know what to say, stuck there between them, with Barry swinging his head back and forth like he was watching the juiciest tennis match ever. "Bill, I'm… I'm so sorry…"

"I'm not here for that. I'm here for you. You love him and you put yourself in danger for him. In a way, I'm responsible, as the one who brought all of this into your life to begin with. I'll do what I can to make sure this ends up how you want it to." He gestured towards Barry, who lurched forward and locked him up.

Words failed me. "Bill… well, thank you," I said, as if he'd given me a bunch of flowers or a ride to work. _Lame. _"Thank you so very much."

As the cage rose, I stepped closer to Eric, aching for Bill's hurt, which I could not make better and remain an honest person. Eric watched the cage rise higher and higher, until it stopped above our heads.

A soft grunt filtered down as Bill tried to get comfortable. The sound made Eric flinch. He grabbed Barry by the back of the neck. "You see to his comfort. Promise me now, boy. Bring in his woman, bring him more protective clothing. Bring him a book to read. Do it now."

Barry's thoughts flew at me. _"He's not my king. I don't have to listen to his threats."_

_ "Then do it for me. Or for Bill and Judith. Or just because you are a decent man."_ I nudged Eric's arm off of the skinny guy. "Please, Barry."

Rubbing his throat, he shrugged. "I would have done it anyway. Judith's been here a few times. She's nice. Come on now, nighttime's wasting." He held open the door to the hallway for us.

Heidi was right where I'd last seen her the day before, waiting. I blinked hard. Surely she hadn't been there all that time? She stood, stretching out her legs. "Are you both ready to go?"

"Sure," I said, but my attention was still on Bill and his sacrifice. The door shut behind us with a clang that made me jump. I wanted to go back in and plead for Bill not to do this but I didn't. It would have diminished his gesture and besides, he wouldn't have given in.

I wasn't even sure I wanted him to give in. As awful as it made me feel, if I had to pick a man to be in that cage, it would be anyone but Eric. Even Bill.

XXX

There was no one waiting for us upstairs. As I had the day before, I sensed vampires overhead. I couldn't sense Bill; something about the silver room, maybe, or just that his was one small existence so far underground. It encouraged me when I remembered that one of the upstairs vampires was Judith, who loved Bill. He deserved that and she seemed to be in good standing here. I hoped her presence would offer Bill both comfort and a degree of protection.

I led Heidi and Eric to my rental car, still parked where I'd left it down the street. Eric was a silent shadow at my back and Heidi seemed no more talkative. I was too hungry and anxious to mind. I drove as quickly as I dared, surprised that Eric hadn't asked to get behind the wheel. That was a measure of how internally preoccupied he was.

"You'll need to get your own room," I told Heidi. "I don't know how safe they are for vampires."

"That's no problem, Joseph is sending along two travelling coffins for us." Her eyes shined in the light reflecting off the rearview mirror. "I have tickets for a flight leaving tomorrow evening for Las Vegas. My maker will send a driver to bring us to him."

"So Felipe is your maker," I said. "You are here for him, not for Victor?"

"Victor sent me to report back to him what you do. Felipe sent me for that and other reasons. Felipe gave my son a job in one of his casinos. He is my maker. My loyalty is to him first, to Victor second. I won't contact Victor until Felipe gives me permission."

While a casino job didn't sound like the healthiest fit for a drug addict, I could understand how that motivated her. And it made me think better of Felipe, though maybe he just wanted Heidi's son close enough to kill quickly if she made a wrong move.

Eric still hadn't said a word. It was beginning to trouble me. I parked at the hotel, pointed Heidi toward the front desk so she could get her own room and led Eric to ours as quickly as I could. "I have to order a pizza or something," I said as I let us in with the key card. "I'm starved. And your, uhm, your coffin will be delivered soon. You heard Heidi say that?"

Instead of answering me, he turned and walked straight into the bathroom. He started the shower as he climbed over the edge of the tub. The water soaked his bathrobe. Eric didn't seem to notice. Though the water hadn't yet warmed, he turned his face up towards the spray, eyes closed.

The moment seemed private, even for two people as intimate as we had become. I inched back out the door but Eric's hand shot out and grabbed my elbow. "Stay." It wasn't quite a demand but it wasn't a question either.

I stripped out of my clothes and climbed in, closing the ugly green shower curtain behind me. Eric hadn't moved other than to stop me from leaving so I tugged down his robe. His ponytail was a rat's nest. I removed the hair band I'd given him. His shoulders twitched under my hand, which I'd placed there to keep my balance while I attended to his hair. He was so very tall.

"Will you sit?" I asked and he did so without even asking why. I detached the shower head and used it to douse Eric's hair. Beneath my hand, the heavy fall of blond softened as the dried blood washed away. Reddish water pooled around Eric's knees on the shower floor.

Finding one of the stingy bottles of shampoo/conditioner mix, I dumped the contents on Eric's head and began to scrub. A low sound rumbled from his chest as my fingers pushed and stroked his scalp. I looked down and saw some dark pink on his cheek. I rubbed away the tear but more followed.

"I thought I'd never have this again," he said, his eyes still closed. "I thought all of this… tenderness… was over for me, for good. Sookie, do you know what it is to go without this…"

"This what?"

His fingers covered mine, threaded gently through his hair. "_This_. To be so happy, to have you love me this way and to love you back… only to lose it for Victor's greed. It was more than I could bear."

Aching inside, I massaged the back of his neck, rubbing soap into the tense muscles. "Eric, you were bearing it. You are strong-hearted."

He tipped his head back into the water as I rinsed away the suds. "I survive. But Bill's right, this time. Victor's taken all the security I worked for, in taking my land. He's taken Pam. He's taken you, in seeing me imprisoned in Texas. I have lost everything dear to me." Though I lowered the spray, he didn't move. "Defeat comes to me with difficulty but I am expecting to go to Las Vegas only to have Felipe laugh in my face over my downfall."

"That won't happen," I said. I could feel his emotions again, not like I once could but with enough intensity that I couldn't stand this. Turning off the water, I flung open the curtain and grabbed a towel. I wrapped it, small but soft, around Eric's broad shoulders. "It just won't."

He nodded. "I need to sleep. The silver did more harm to me than I thought." He held up one hand, which trembled, scaring me because it was _Eric_, trembling. "I'm not myself."

"It's okay, you don't need to do a thing. You can sleep. You don't need to always be strong. I'm here." I dried him and then myself with economical movements. "You're just fine," I said as I wrapped the towel around his hair. "Just fine." _You have to be. I will fix this for you. For us._

The coffin had arrived sometime during our brief shower. I stood over Eric as he made himself comfortable. "I've got a plan," I told him again as he leaned back against the pillow. "You'll see. Everything will work itself out."

He struggled against sleep, even as his body settled into it. "I don't want to lose you again," he murmured. "I don't want you to be hurt."

His eyes closed before I could kiss him but I did so anyway. "I love you."

When I was sure he was all the way asleep, I lowered the lid on the coffin and sat on the single bed, feeling alone but also encumbered with responsibility. And hatred as well. The image of Victor's genial face popped into my mind as my fury rose. I'd never seen Eric so low and it was all Victor's fault. Hatred wasn't an easy emotion for me but I knew that had Victor stepped into the hotel room at that very moment, I would have killed him in cold blood and slept the better for it. _With my bare hands, if I could._

My cell phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts. "Hello Pam," I said, putting my feet up on the bed.

"I talked with Felipe," she said quietly. "Victor doesn't know anything. He's been a busy boy."

"We gathered that," I said. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes. He keeps me well." Something bitter touched her words in a way that made me cringe. "And you both?"

"Eric's… he's not hurt but he's having a tough time. There was a lot of silver at Stan's place. He's not burned though, not now. It's more of a mental thing."

Pam cursed under her breath. "Felicia wasn't worth this. Stan and Joseph know it. Fucking posturing and politics."

I thought so too. "The sooner we get to Nevada, the better it'll be for him."

"Eric doesn't know what you've done. What you've promised Felipe."

"No." I wrapped the damp towel more snugly around myself. " I can't tell him. You know what he'd do."

"Tie you up and ship you back to Bon Temps? Or maybe just leave you there and return himself to Stan to prevent you from helping him?"

"Something like that." I reached out and touched the side of the coffin, the wood smooth and protective. _Just like Eric. _"I'm doing the right thing."

"Is that a question?"

I sighed and rolled over, curling up around my grumbling, hungry stomach. "Not really. Victor doesn't know you're calling me, right?"

"Of course not. What he doesn't know, he can't compel me to reveal more of."

The room felt so empty and large around me. _I'm all Eric has. _"I wish you were here, Pam."

"I'm where I need to be. We're working on surveillance."

"We? I wasn't aware of anyone else on our side."

"It's better you don't know. We can't be too careful. This is dangerous business we're about, my friend."

"I guess," I said, deciding I shouldn't mention Bill. She probably knew anyway.

"Order in," she said. "I can hear your stomach making noises. Then sleep. Eric needs you rested." She exhaled loudly. "Eric needs you."

_Oh, don't I know it. _"I'm doing my best," I told her, and hit the power button to end the call.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

We rested in silence, Eric in his coffin, me on the lumpy hotel bed for what seemed like a long time. The night ended but Eric never stirred. It was hard for me to leave him like that, alone and vulnerable. Taking advantage of the darkness while it lasted, I took a peek inside the coffin but closed the lid quickly. Funny, I had no issue with Eric dead for the day in a bed or, say, a giant bird cage wrapped around me, but in the coffin he looked creepy beyond all words.

It did make me feel secure enough to dash down to the hotel desk. I bought myself some junk food from the machine. Ramen noodles, microwave popcorn, trail mix, a sad granola bar… it made a poor meal, starved as I was.

It wasn't long after dawn when someone knocked on the door. I'd dressed and done my best to make myself presentable. "Come on in," I said, well aware of the intentions of the two uniformed men who stood in the hall and grateful for my telepathy. The fewer surprises, the better. "Did you guys get Heidi already?"

"Yes, just as ordered," said smaller of the men. He furnished me with a yellow copy of a form. Anubis' logo was stamped at the top. "We'll take care of them. You are coming as well? We were told we'd have one daylight passenger."

"Yes! Let's go." I'd had enough of waiting, be it in hotel rooms or the awful cage. My bag had been packed since I woke up. "Can we go through a Sonic on the way?"

The small guy cast a quick glance at my disheveled clothing and checked his watch. "We aren't allowed to make stops, miss. But there should be a café at the airport."

"That'll do." I watched them carefully as they lifted Eric onto a cart and rolled him out of the room. They seemed to know their job. Even if Eric had been sleeping like a human man, he probably wouldn't have felt so much as a jostle.

The front desk had coffee going. I snagged a quick cup as we went by. _Heaven._

Heidi was tucked safely into the van. They slid Eric in beside her. I touched the edge of the coffin once, for luck, before they closed the door. _We're on our way._

XXX

I slept on the flight, hoping to store up rest as I didn't plan on leaving Eric alone with Felipe. The peppy flight attendant served me a breakfast of croissant with ham and cheese and a small fruit salad. I ate two meals, to her amusement. When we landed, she sent me with a third in a bag that she called a "to-go" but that looked suspiciously like an air sickness bag. As long as it wasn't used and held food, I didn't care.

It occurred to me that if I was this hungry from my day in the cage, Eric was likely to wake up ravenous. It bothered me to depend on Felipe for Eric's bottled blood but I couldn't exactly bring outside food in without offering insult. There was my own blood, of course, if Eric would take it. The bond was renewed anyway. No putting the _in_ back in virgin.

Anubis could beat out any mainstream airline for their service. Eric, Heidi and I were delivered from their private airport directly to a vampire-owned hotel on the Vegas Strip. Heidi's room was a few doors down from ours. I remembered just in time to tip the guys who settled Eric's coffin onto a ready-made stand beside the bed.

And then we were alone, again, in another hotel room. I took a shower, washed and dried my hair and changed into the last of the clean Walmart clothes. It was a simple sundress but comfy and attractive enough. Eric liked me in yellow. I guessed it was a sunshine thing.

I wanted him to wake up. Patience was not my virtue right then. I paced in front of the window, waiting for the last bits of the sun to fade from the sky. Finally, I felt him come into awareness and flung open the coffin lid. "Eric, I—"

With a snarl, he lunged for me, knocking us both to the floor. Between the impact and the burdensome weight of his body, all the air left my lungs. I gasped and coughed. "Eric, it's me, Sookie!"

His forehead was right up against mine, fangs bared, eyes red and wild. He hissed again. No one was at home in that face when it lowered to my throat.

"Eric!"

Shivers erupted down the length of his body, nude and tense against me. I could feel each tremble. Returning his forehead to rest on mine, he inhaled sharply and let it out in a long, shuddering sigh. "Sookie," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay," I told him, trying to warm him, rubbing up and down his back. "No harm done."

"I dreamt I was still in the cage and you…" He braced himself on his elbows to allow his hands the freedom to cup my face. "You were Felipe's whore."

I flinched before I could stop myself. His eyes narrowed. "There are things you are not telling me, lover."

"Well, I'm not letting Felipe into my pants, if that's what's got you so hot and bothered," I said, pushing against his shoulder. "Off, okay? I've gotta find you some clothes. You can't go anywhere like that."

"That's not an answer." He rolled to one side so I could scoot out. "That's not even half an answer."

"Sure it is." I hopped over him. "It's what I know."

Hitting zero on the hotel phone, I got the desk and requested whatever clothing they had available for a man of Eric's stature. If they were shocked, they didn't let on at all. Good hotel.

I took my time neatening the little desk on which the phone was situated, aligning the base with the small pad of paper and mini-pencil. It gave me that much longer to hide my see-through face from Eric's questions. "Are you hungry?" I asked him without turning around. "Of course you are. I'll run down to the desk and see what they've got for you. Or maybe I should feed you myself?"

Eric's eyes were the bluest I'd ever seen. Just now, though, they'd darkened near to black as he glared up at me, appearing upside-down from my vantage point. "I'm ill, not an idiot," he said. "You will tell me what you and Felipe have discussed."

I smiled, my flashy, nervous smile. _I can't tell you because Pam's right. You'll never let me do this. _"Eric, I am not going to whore for Felipe. You know me better than that!"

"I do. I believe you. I also know you are capable of giving up anything to protect those you love." His arm shot out, fingers wrapping hard around my ankle. "Do you love me, Sookie?"

"You know I do." I flung out a hand to indicate the room. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"You've no home, nowhere else to go. Victor won't let you rest in his area unmolested."

I kicked him. It wasn't nice but I'd had a really hard few days. "And you think I'm here because it's the easiest place to go? Or because it's the best place to hide from Victor? 'Cause I've gotta tell you, there are places that are a lot easier than this has been and a lot more secret too."

He squeezed the top of my foot. "Tell me."

I don't know what I would have done right then if we hadn't been interrupted. I could have told him. Maybe, just maybe, I could have convinced him that my plan was a good idea. Maybe. His life wasn't worth the risk.

The knock startled us both. We stared at each other in silence for a full thirty seconds. It was too soon to be the clothing. "Felipe's sent someone?" I ventured, shaking off his hand so I could open the door.

In response, Eric covered his face with his arm and turned away from both the door and me.

I didn't like letting a stranger into the room with Eric in his current state. My natural instincts were screaming at me to toss Eric over my shoulder and head for the hills, to hole up someplace in secret where no one could hurt us. Obviously my natural instincts didn't realize that telepathy doesn't come with super strength and that Eric is a very large man.

"Who's there?" I called, touching the door knob. It felt like a vamp mind. "Your name, please?"

"I'm hungry and tired. Open up."

_Pam! _I flipped the lock, then hesitated. "Are you alone?"

She understood. "Victor's not with me."

I let her in, feeling giddy with relief. "I can't believe you're here! We could really use some help." _And some distraction. _Gesturing to Eric, I said, "Can your blood help him to heal better than mine?"

"Not any longer." She surveyed her former master, who hadn't budged from his slump by the bed. "I could heal Victor ten ways from Sunday."

She sounded so normal though I thought I detected a hint of sadness in her tone. She held a small stack of clothing, which I took from her and gave to Eric. "They were by the door," she explained. Apparently it wasn't too soon, which spoke volumes about the hotel. I wondered why we'd been brought here.

"Pam," Eric said by way of a greeting, pulling the pants on without a blush. He had to wiggle into them while flat on his back. Of course he couldn't ask me for help. Amazing how irritated he could get me when I knew without a doubt I loved him up one side and down the other. _Look at what we do for love._

"You look like shit, Sheriff," Pam said, the edge of her lip curling up. "Are you able to attend a meeting?"

"Always." He rolled over and made it to his knees before falling against the bed.

"Uh-huh." She moved back, deferring to me. "Let Sookie help you. Your manhood won't fall of and she is itching for something to do."

"No freaking kidding." Kneeling beside Eric, I patted his back and helped him with his shirt, despite his scowl. "Why don't you eat some before we go?"

"Bottled, not you. You should keep your strength." He pointed to the mini fridge in the corner. "They'll stock it."

Pam found two True Bloods and twisted the tops with her hand, not bothering with a bottle opener. As a barmaid, I found myself impressed. _Youch_.

She passed one to me. I warmed it a little by pressing it to my chest with both hands.

"Aw, isn't that sweet," Pam said, chugging her own drink cold.

"Yes," Eric said in a low tone. He caressed my bent knees, stroking higher as I shivered from the frosty glass against my front. "She's sweet. She's also keeping secrets."

Pam tossed her empty bottle into the trash can. "Don't we all."

Giving Eric the drink, I gave Pam a hard look. "Aren't you? Last I heard, you were sticking around closer to home."

"Felipe phoned not long after we spoke. I'm under orders to bring you both to this meeting. Amongst other things." She wiped her mouth with the back of one hand. With the other, she fished around her purse for a lipstick. "Ready or not. They don't care."

Eric sniffed hard and I wondered what he could sense that I could not. Something new bothered him. "Seeing as no one will tell me anything of importance, I am as ready as I'm able to be."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm doing the best I can here."

He continued to pet my legs though he looked at Pam. "Your maker is here?"

The way he said 'maker' could have curdled milk. Pam stared back at him, as serious as I'd ever seen her. Turning his attention back to me, he said, "Would you help me up?"

It hurt me to see him like this, weakened, frustrated and scared. Distant too, as if the fear had made him pull inside to some ancient, invisible place where I could never follow. Even through the bond, he felt remote. "Eric…"

"Not to worry, lover." He winched himself up by hanging onto me, nearly bowling me over in the process. Winking, he said, "It gives me an excuse to keep my arm around you."

I snorted, glad to see his good humor wasn't entirely dead. "Since when have you waited for an excuse?"

"True." He turned to Pam. "Where is this meeting? Upstairs?"

"You know where we are?" _Good thing one of us does._

"Felipe owns this hotel." Pointing to the wallpaper, which reminded me of the Aztecs for some reason, he said, "I'd know his poor taste in décor anywhere."

Pam picked up Eric's empty True Blood bottle and tossed it. "Yes, they are waiting for you in Felipe's foyer."

"Not a throne room?" I helped Eric out of the room. He leaned on me so heavily, Pam noticed my difficulty and supported his other side. "He's a king, doesn't he have one?"

"I've seen it," Eric said, breathing hard as we entered the elevator. "It's very. . . gold."

Pam pushed the appropriate button and we had to readjust our grip on Eric as we lurched upward. "Felipe wants to see you in a friendlier atmosphere, or so he said." She caught my eye, a warning on her face. "More intimate."

_Uh-oh. Guess it's show time. _I squeezed Eric so hard, he let out an _uumph_. "I love you, you know. No matter what else."

Eric blinked at me like a gigantic Viking owl. Pam chuckled. "Why Sookie," she said, "I love you too, dumpling."

"I mean Eric, of course." The elevator came to an abrupt halt, rocking us all back.

"Doesn't everyone," she purred as the doors opened.

XXX

Felipe's foyer looked like the living room of a house of a bunch of wealthy bachelors with a passion for earth tones. Heavy leather sofas bracketed ornate, plush throw rugs. Curtains hung in waves, velvety and bulky, creating depths in which anything could be hidden. A fireplace burned in the corner, odd for Las Vegas, though the air conditioning did give the room a chill. Set before the hearth, Felipe's chair wasn't quite a throne but it was sure bigger than any normal chair. Buttery brown leather covered it from the top to where it ended in legs one could only describe as penis-shaped.

And beside him, dressed to the nines in a tux, sat Victor.

_Less penis-shaped but definitely a dick. _Eric gave me a sharp look as he felt my nervous amusement.

Pam went to sit beside Victor immediately, though he didn't tell her to in any words I could hear. With Eric's full weight on me all of a sudden, I couldn't balance us both. He staggered but held to his feet. Our little dance had not escaped the notice of the Nevada vamps, not by any means. They looked like wolves, calculating our weaknesses.

"Please be seated," Felipe said, gesturing to a love seat so deep, I thought we'd never be able to stand up again after we sank into it. "You had no difficulty leaving Texas?"

My cheeks reddened. _I forgot about him. _"Bill Compton came to our aid there."

"Ah, yes, Mr. Compton. I thought he might be of use in that regard." Felipe gave us his snake-charming leer. "You likely do not know that he was made my child last month. Unclaimed vampires, especially the young, need a guiding hand."

_He sent Bill. He helped us. Why would he do that? _I wanted so badly to ask Eric what he thought. Conscious of our bad position, I tried to keep my face as unrevealing as possible. "Is that so?"

Eric kept his arm around me. _He_ didn't seem shocked about the news of Bill's new master but I sure was. His hold on me didn't relax for a second. I guessed that was to add legitimacy to our farce that he'd been holding onto Pam and me for fun. Or maybe he was laying claim to me as his wife. Most likely, both things were true.

"You and my wife have planned this meeting," Eric said, bowing his head low to the king. "We are here. What is to be done?"

"Your wife," Felipe said, nodding to me in greeting. I nodded back in a manner I hoped showed respect. "Ms. Stackhouse and I planned a meeting. However, certain facts have been brought to light that alter our original arrangement."

_Not good. _"Is that so?" I smiled at Felipe, noting the way the flames behind him gave the illusion of a fiery crown ringing his head. After my last experience with fire, this was not a pleasing sight.

"It is. My child, Victor, tells me that you have been undermining his ability to take full control of Area Five in my name."

"In what way?" Eric could have been discussing an employee's track record for tardiness, for all the emotion he showed. The bond was quiet in the way a tiger is quiet right before it pounces in for the kill. "Does he bring documentation?"

Victor took Pam's hand in his. I gritted my teeth at the sight but neither Pam nor Eric made any sign of being bothered. He kissed her pale knuckles. "My evidence was unfortunately burned with this woman's home, your Majesty. Knowing I came for it, she lit her house afire and fled to her husband in fear of her life."

_Asshole. _I leapt to my feet, despite Eric's hiss. "What so-called evidence are you pretending was in my house when you made Pam burn it down?"

Felipe settled back in his chair, looking amused. "Yes, my child?"

"Ledgers showing her husband's holdings produced far more than the falsified records he made privy to our people during the initial take-over, for one." Victor sighed and Pam scooted closer to him, almost into his lap. I knew it was no coincidence. "My child tells me the double books existed first for purposes of human tax evasion but served Mr. Northman well upon our entrance into his Area."

Felipe snapped his fingers and a human came out of the shadows, giving him a cup of steaming coffee. My mouth watered at the smell even as I looked at Eric in surprise. _Felipe drinks coffee? I always knew he was weird_.

"Is this truth he tells us?" Felipe asked, sipping deeply from his cup.

"Lies," Eric said, but through the bond a tendril of disquiet reached me.

_Truth_, I figured but let it go for now. "Well, it's Victor's word against Eric's. Now what?"

"Now what, indeed." With great care, Felipe set his cup into a waiting saucer on the low table beside his man-throne. "You've told me you also have a grievance against me through the actions of my child."

I felt Eric stiffen against my side. "Not with you," I said, trying to pick the right words. "Victor is acting in ways that go against you."

Tightening his arm around me, Eric said, "I know little of what has occurred over the past few weeks. My …" He glowered at Victor. "My imprisoned status has kept me in the dark."

Felipe nodded, looking unimpressed.

Desperation grew within me. _We're losing his attention. _"Victor wants to be Louisiana's king. I know it. I… I mean, he sent his people out to kill us, to kill Pam and me. And he's gotten rid of all the vamps in the Area with any spine or any loyalty to you."

"Is that so?" Felipe took another drink from his cup. "Victor? How do you reply to such charges?"

Victor laughed. "Who would not want to be Louisiana's king? But I would never act in such a way as to sacrifice myself. I've lived too long for that, as you well know, my liege."

Strangely, it was Pam Felipe focused on next. You didn't need to know her well in order to see she'd drawn in upon herself in such a way as to be nearly invisible full of large personalities. As he watched her, I remembered my own reaction to Eric's maker. Pam's must be even stronger for having the vamp bond. "Child of my child, you have known both of these men."

A little of Pam's personality slipped through as she quirked up her lip. "Yes, I certainly have."

"Do you bring me any proof of wrongdoings on either side?"

"I don't but I brought along someone who does." Pam pointed to a shadow and Mr. Cataliades, accompanied by Diantha, stepped out.

Felipe did not look surprised. _Of course he knew. _"The demon lawyer and his neice."

Pam smiled in a way that showed her fangs. "As agreed upon by all parties at the last summit, Mr. Cataliades and his employees are neutral."

"And thus we are impartial witnesses," said the lawyer, greeting me with a bow that encompassed everyone in the room in an equal manner. "With your permission, Your Highness, I will present the evidence against your child."

Victor laughed again, more loudly than before. "There is no crime and therefore, no evidence."

"Is that so?" Felipe lifted his chin towards Mr. Cataliades. "Present whatever you have brought to show us, _por favor_."

Diantha stepped forward, a cell phone in her hand, its screen alight in the dim room. "S'a video."

Clearing his throat, Mr. Cataliades said, "My niece took this video at my request. I was in Victor's office when he ordered his people, Bruno and Corinna, both vampires, to follow, overcome and murder Ms. Stackhouse and Ms. Ravenscroft. He did so knowing you had placed Ms. Stackhouse under the protection of the vampires."

Arching an eyebrow, Felipe said, "And where are these two vampires who were given such a traitorous job?"

I cleared my throat. "We killed them. Pam and I." Shrugging, I said, "Kill or be killed, you know?"

Clearly, everyone in the room knew that concept well. It was the one thing we could all agree on. Felipe tapped the arms of his chair restlessly. "The video?"

Diantha brought it to him, hitting play before dropping it into Felipe's outstretched hand. Though the sounds were not loud thanks to the small size of the phone, my voice was recognizable, as were the sounds of the fight. I looked down, my hair shrouding my face in a way that gave me some privacy. I didn't want to relive that night.

As the video ended, Eric drew me closer to him. He must have felt my mixed emotions. Maybe even the one called bitterness that came when I wished like hell Victor had come himself to kill me instead of sending his minions. Maybe then he'd have died that night and we wouldn't be here, faced with the Inquisition.

Though right now, the Grand Inquisitor was concentrating his attention on Victor, looking none too happy. "You seem to regard my vow of protection as meaningless. What little weight you must give your own promises."

"Your Highness," Victor said, and then stopped. For the first time, I saw Victor run out of things to say.

Felipe's gaze moved to me. I tried not to squirm. "We had an arrangement, Ms. Stackhouse."

"Two arrangements," I corrected, ignoring Eric's warning squeeze. "Your promise of protection and the agreement we made on the phone the other day."

"Yes," he said. "That is still the course you choose to follow, in light of all this? It is what you desire?"

I couldn't look at Eric. My heart beat like a hummingbird in my chest. _I desire Eric's life and mine too._ "Yes. It is. I mean, I do."

"Very well." Felipe stood, motioning to the side of the room. Several humans came out, all men, all dressed in identical black slacks and white dress shirts. They began pulling back the furniture. Two of them rolled up the ornate rugs.

"What is this?" Victor asked, rising from his seat to stand beside his king, Pam trailing along behind him.

"You had evidence against Mr. Northman, though it has become inaccessible. Mr. Northman, through his wife, has evidence against you. I find I can no longer trust your allegiance. Thus, you shall fight. That is how such things are decided."

"Not for years," Eric said, though he didn't seem unhappy.

"Not in the court of Sophie-Anne, it is true, but the old ways are kept elsewhere." Felipe waited until the room was clear, then sat again. "You may choose a second to fight for you, Eric."

"What about me?" Victor managed to keep that from sounding whiny, almost.

"Not you," Felipe said flatly, and Victor sank back into his chair.

Eric sat in silence, considering his options. Pam was an obvious choice but an equally obvious bad idea. Victor could just command her not to harm him, end of fight. That left… me. "May I choose from amongst your retinue?" he asked the king.

"Certainly," Felipe said, but it wasn't Eric he was looking at. It was me. I got the sense that he thought we were having a private conversation in a silent way and wondered if he knew I couldn't understand what he meant by all his little glances.

Eric pulled his arm away from me. He folded his hands in his lap. "I pick the tiger," he said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_Quinn. _Eric's words punched me right in the gut and I wanted to do the same to him with my fist. He knew but he just kept talking. "The tiger. He is here?"

Felipe tipped his head and one of his human workers left the room. "Yes. He is a suitable second."

Victor's eyes couldn't get much bigger. "A shifter?" he asked with enough disgust that I took offense on Quinn's behalf. "That is fair?"

Pam snickered. "Oh, beautiful," she said. "Well done." I wasn't sure if she was speaking to Eric or to Felipe but I guessed it worked both ways.

I wanted to argue Eric's head right off. This gave high-handed a whole new meaning. Using the ex to fight the current boyfriend's battle? Talk about salting the wound. I wanted to argue… but I didn't. I couldn't come up with anyone better. It's not like I'd ever be Quinn's favorite girl again. And he had made his bed with these vamps through no fault of mine. I stayed quiet.

Mr. Cataliades and Diantha said their goodbyes. Diantha darted forward to kiss my cheek, which surprised and pleased me. I was sorry to see them go. It was nice to have at least one ally in this scary room.

When Felipe's servant came back in through the door with Quinn, my jaw dropped. If I'd seen Quinn on the street, I might not have recognized him. He'd dropped at least 60 pounds of muscle, leaving his frame looking frail and his face emaciated compared to his former bulk. I couldn't hear his thoughts and the look on his face made me glad for that. His whole demeanor spoke of hard times and disappointments. When I opened myself to read his emotions, the pain he carried sent me reeling.

I came to on my back on the plush carpet, my head in Eric's lap. The feelings I'd picked up from Quinn lingered in me like a physical wound. Eric's large hand stroked my hair back from my face. I angled my cheek into him, seeking solace. _Oh Lord, Quinn. What have you done to yourself? _

Victor's voice came to me as I regained awareness, arguing hard for a continuance at another time in light of my health. I heard Felipe say something in a musing tone but I couldn't catch the words.

Eric broke in and said, "She's fine. She was simply startled. Can she have a drink?" I couldn't see Felipe's reply but I heard someone leave the room as Eric helped me back up onto the couch.

Quinn still stood waiting for directions but he'd moved in closer towards the fireplace area. He seemed to be pretending I wasn't in the room. That was fine with me. I hadn't a clue what to say to him.

I'd expected to be given water but Felipe's servant brought forth a bottle of Bacardi 151 and a tumbler, apologizing for the lack of a shot glass. Eric motioned for him to set it down on the small table between the loveseat and the couch on which Pam and Victor sat.

"Here my lover, this will cure all of your problems," he said, gesturing for the servant to pour a triple by holding up three fingers. Our bond quivered with something I couldn't define.

"Leave her the bottle," Pam said. "She looks like she needs it."

I hated the taste of the stuff but after Eric guided me up from his lap, I took a sip to be polite. The servant set the bottle beside me and disappeared back into the curtains. I looked at the Bacardi label with its trademark bat, onto which someone had colored two small, bloody fangs. _Cute. It's a vampire bat._

Felipe had been quiet all this time, watching my incapacity as I imagined anyone buying a slave might observe their qualities. I wondered if next he'd want to check my teeth. Apparently confident that I was no longer in danger of passing out, he beckoned Quinn closer. Quinn knelt at the vampire king's feet, cowed. It was a sad sight.

"You are to act as Mr. Northman's second," Felipe told him.

As if it was nothing to him, as if Eric was anyone else on this planet and no one to me, and I no one to he, Quinn said, "I understand. Who am I to fight?"

"Victor," said Felipe.

We all turned our heads to look at Victor, who did not seem to enjoy the spotlight for the first time since I'd met him. He beseeched Felipe with wide eyes. "Eric looks like he's feeling stronger," he said, both eyebrows raised high. "Surely he wants to fight his own battle."

Eric dropped his head back, looking up at the ceiling. _Yes, he surely does but he's too smart for that. Too smart for you. _"I am still not back at my full strength and won't be for some days yet. This needs to be settled now."

Felipe patted Quinn's bowed head. "I have approved you."

"I understand," Quinn repeated and rose to his feet.

_Then he moved. _It happened so fast, far from anything I had expected. In the time it took me to blink, Quinn was on Victor, grabbing him up by the front of his black tux and throwing him to the floor at my feet. Taking advantage of both Victor's shock and his restrictive clothing, Quinn began to pummel him in the face, each punch echoing through the wood of the floor, reverberating up my legs as if Quinn wanted me to feel them.

Drawing my legs up, I tucked them against my chest and hugged, wanting to be as small and invisible as possible. Eric's whole body was tight as a bow string. All of his focus was on the fight. He flinched only once, when Quinn got hold of Victor's dangly bits through his pants and twisted them in his fist. Victor's shriek of pain hurt my ears.

As quickly as it began, the tables turned. One moment, Quinn seemed to have Victor in hand, literally. The next, things changed. Victor managed to get a leg up high enough to gain purchase. He kicked Quinn just far enough away that he was able to sit up and tear off his tuxedo jacket. Quinn snarled at him in a way that reminded me of his other form but he did not change. I wondered why.

With a neat twitch of his wrist, Victor tossed the ruined jacket over Quinn's head. Using Quinn's sudden blindness to his own benefit, he tackled Quinn to the ground. No sooner did the back of Quinn's head connect with the floorboards than Victor was at Quinn's throat, striking like a snake: fast, deadly and unrelenting.

"It looks bad for our furry hero," someone drawled. Pam, it had to be Pam.

Quinn's legs went limp. I moaned aloud, my hand flying down to squeeze Eric's wrist._ C'mon Quinn! _

As I rose to my feet to get a better view, Pam came over to me. "Oh, sweetheart," she crooned, which was strange enough to break through my fear and draw my attention to her. She hugged me, holding me close, making little comforting noises.

My whole body began to tremble as Victor's mouth produced hideous slurping sounds at Quinn's neck. It sickened me. _And Pam was holding me. _"Pam?"

"Try not to look, honey. It will all be over soon." She let me go but kept one arm around my shoulders. "There, there, it's okay. It's hard in the heat of the moment."

And then it was okay, sort of, because Pam was putting something into my hand, the movement small and stealthy. A lighter. The sundress I wore had no pockets so I kept it snug in my palm.

Pam winked at me, the tiniest of winks. Handing me the tumbler of Bacardi, she said, "You should really drink some more. It can't hurt. This is good stuff. Talk about heat."

_Ah._ _I get it. _"It can't hurt," I agreed, shooting a glance up at Eric.

With one finger, he traced the edge of my cheekbone. "Thank you, Pam," he said, so calm it made me want to bite him just to even us up. "I'll take care of her now."

_He knows_. The emotions he sent to me through the bond confirmed it. He felt calm while I was anything but, yet he knew exactly what I was being asked to do.

Quinn wouldn't last much longer. I had to be fast. Felipe's attention was all on the floor at our feet, on the two men he'd set at each other. In my sweaty fingers, the shot glass felt heavy. It was a horrible choice to make, to set a man on fire. Then I looked at Pam and Eric and found it was no real choice at all.

Feeling like we were all inside a bad dream, I took one big leap forward and doused Victor's back. I couldn't, and wouldn't, think. I just flicked on the lighter, set it right and dropped it down.

Eric was there before the lighter even hit Victor's back, yanking me safely behind him. Flames went up in a woosh. My teeth chattered together; I crept backwards and ran into Pam, who gripped me in both her hands.

As Victor reared back with a scream of agony, Eric kicked him off Quinn. "You're alive, tiger," he said. "Can you move?"

Quinn rolled over and made it to his knees, then to his feet. One hand over the wound on his neck, he looked from Victor to me. "Are you hurt?" he asked, but then other screams arose.

Felipe collapsed beside Victor but didn't touch his child. Instead he tore at his own clothing, panicked. Spanish words raced out of him, nothing I understood but then Pam fell as well, crying out. Eric strode over to us and without pause, punched her hard in the face.

"Eric!" I tried to catch Pam as she fell unconscious but she was too heavy. All I managed was to wedge my body beneath hers and cushion her fall.

"They feel him burn." Flames reflected in Eric's eyes, as dark as I'd ever seen them. "I couldn't let her endure that. Not when she's done this, in part, for us."

A horrible sound came from Victor's body. Quinn stood over his king like a shadow. I looked away, petting Pam more for my own comfort than hers. "Now what?"

"Nothing good." Eric flanked us like a body guard, ready for any sudden attack. "We cheated. Our lives are all forfeit to Felipe for this. All I can hope is to distract him with your special skill. Perhaps he will let you live, rare as you are."

This was so familiar, I thought, bitterness warring with the multitude of other emotions rising up in me. The take-over, when Eric had advised me to let Victor into my home for Eric and Bill's surrender. Eric had said something so similar then and just a few months later we were again in this position, our lives on the verge of ending because of one single vampire who called himself a king.

Felipe was mostly naked now, as close to the inferno that was Victor as he could get without harming himself. _This all stems from that man, _I thought, and a sudden realization washed over me.

I stood, lowering Pam's head to the carpet. The lighter had vanished but the Bacardi bottle was within arm's reach. "Quinn," I said, "Look."

I held the bottle. Eric's eyes darted from Quinn to me and back again. I don't know what he would have said; I didn't give him a chance to protest or agree. I simply raised my arm and threw the bottle at Felipe with all my might.

It broke against his head, soaking him. Stunned, he turned to me, his vivid fury plain and strong. Before he could attack, Quinn was there. With one great shove of his boot, he sent Felipe sprawling onto Victor's body. The consequence was instant and far larger than I'd expected.

I dropped back onto the floor, stunned as the noise and the heat filled the room. Felipe's dark eyes, looking at me with such anger, were all I could see. I'd never liked him but it wasn't in my nature to betray someone to whom I'd given my word. Burning men to death was even less in my nature.

Hiding my face in my folded arms, I realized I'd done what I could and that there would be no more from me now. If that meant burning up right along with Victor and Felipe, so be it. Despite the heat of the fire, I felt cold, as if my blood had been replaced by ice. _I just want to sleep._

"Like hell," Eric snarled in my ear. He started to sling me up over his shoulder, and then paused to consider Pam. She looked like a broken doll, prone on the floor. "You will walk out of here, my lover, like the warrior you are," Eric told me as he set me back down to pick up Pam. He reeled only slightly before righting himself. "You've come this far almost entirely on your own. You are strong."

_Not entirely on my own. Quinn. _Blinking hard in the rising smoke, I caught a glimpse of him herding Felipe's human servants towards the exit. He saw me and waved. "Out! Now!" he called.

Eric wouldn't budge until I went ahead of him. I made my way across the room, avoiding running servants and spots where the carpet had been kicked up by tromping feet. The smoke was everywhere, a stinging fog. At the door, I had to stop to cough. I could taste them burning. It was the worst thing I could have ever imagined, that taste and knowing its source.

Rolling Pam a little to one side, Eric took hold of my wrist and wrenched me out the door.

XXX

Outside, we stood with the crowd of our fellow hotel refuges, watching the building as it burned. Dawn was not far off but I couldn't seem to hold two rational thoughts together in my head, couldn't plan or prepare. I'd brought us this far. Resting back against Eric's firm chest, I shuddered. I'd brought us all so much further than I'd ever expected.

"I traded your freedom for mine," I told Eric as we stood together, Pam crouched on the curb nearby. "Felipe wanted me here in Vegas with him. His pet telepath. I told him I would come and stay as long as he wanted, in exchange for your freedom and your becoming his child."

Eric hugged me closer to him. "And Victor?"

"Victor's position was something we left on the negotiating table."

"Ah," Eric said, and that was all though I could feel him thinking, could practically see the dice rolling around in his head, our futures inscribed differently on each side.

Pam squinted up at us. "The king is dead, Eric. The _king_."

"Yes, and Victor as well," Eric said. "They are dead and we are safe from them both now, thanks to Sookie."

The sound of sirens filled the air. I coughed and, pulling away, spat onto the street. "I'm so cold," I whispered.

Eric took a deep breath. "We must find a place to stay the day."

And so we started to walk, the three of us, with Pam supported between Eric and I, though mostly on me. I staggered some but the want of a hot shower and to be _away_ propelled me forward long after my body wanted to stop.

It took me a while to realize that the horn honking through the sirens was right beside us. A sleek, black car had slowed to tail us on our trek up the sidewalk. When the driver's side window lowered to reveal Mr. Cataliades, I could have kissed his homely face. "We'll take you someplace safe," he told us.

That was all I really wanted.

He drove us through the night, the three of us silent, huddled together in the back seat. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Felipe's betrayed look. I could still feel the smooth heft of the bottle in my hand and the rough tongue of the lighter as I flicked it on and turned it into a murder weapon.

From Pam's hunched posture, I knew she felt just as traumatized. She continually touched herself, as if for reassurance that she was in one piece and not burned. Outwardly, Eric fared better, his shoulders straight and his head up high but his gaze went inward and far away. I knew he was worse off than either Pam or I, no matter how he appeared. I kept one hand on his, trying to tell him without words that no matter what happened, I was not letting him go.

I expected we would end up at yet another hotel so it was a surprise when we turned down streets that were each more suburban than the next. At one, a ranch-style with a long driveway, Mr. Cataliades turned. Diantha reached into the glove compartment for a garage door opener and as we pulled safely inside, I found I could breathe a little bit better.

"Sophie-Anne had a safe house in every city in which she might be called upon to visit another royal." Mr. Cataliades got out and opened Pam's door. "May I help?" he asked in such a kind and dignified way, it made me like him even more. _He's sparing Pam's pride as much as possible, bless his heart._

Pam waited until Eric nodded, then swung her legs out and accepted Mr. Cataliades' arm. "Thank you," she said. "I must rest."

"There is a safe place inside. You can sleep like a queen," he promised, and took her through the nearby door.

When I opened my door, Diantha was outside it, grinning at me. "Hiya, needsomehelp?"

I shook my head. "Just point us in the right direction for a shower and a light-tight bed." I guessed Sophie-Anne would have guest rooms, knowing she had taken a few of her people everywhere she went. Andre and the twins, at the very least.

"Righthisway," Diantha said.

I scooted out to follow her, tugging Eric along with me. As distracted by his thoughts as he was, he might have sat out in the car until dawn.

Or so I thought. Once Diantha led us through the dark house to a bedroom and I shut us inside together, he barely waited for the door to close before grabbing me up and crushing me against him.

He inhaled deeply, his face pressed against the curve of my shoulder. "So many times tonight, I thought we were lost."

No less happy to be holding onto him, I climbed him like a tree, clutching at him with my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He supported my bottom, falling against the wall to do so. I remembered his weakness. I remembered everything. And then the tears came.

Easing us onto the enormous bed, he spooned me up against him, so close not a breeze could have come between us. I cried for a good, long while, the messy sort of crying that involves snot and open-mouthed, drooly sobs. He cried too though he looked a whole lot better doing so than I did.

By the time I could finally calm myself down, I thought he'd fallen asleep. I felt pretty sleepy myself but there was no way I was leaving the smell of smoke on me overnight, especially not while knowing what- _who_- had created it.

"Better?" His lips tickled my ear. "We must talk, if you can."

I rolled over to face him, keeping my legs wound around his. "Who will come for us?" We'd killed a king. No, _I _had killed a king, Quinn and I. And his powerful second-in-command. As Eric had said, our lives were forfeit, but that was why I'd killed Felipe. Who would want to hurt us next?

"I've been thinking about that," he said, wiping some soot from my brow. "With Felipe dead, everything is changed."

"Who will take over?" I imagined a third-in-command, a proto-Victor.

"There is no qualified third. Felipe had not chosen a replacement for Victor and Victor's children, apart from Heidi, died that night on the road with you and Pam."

"And Heidi isn't strong enough, right?"

"Heidi is a juvenile. She will need a new master, someone to protect and guide her." Eric arched back, getting comfortable against the cushy pillows. "No, I've thought and thought and come up with no one from Nevada who could possibly step into Felipe's place. There will be a meeting and his replacement will be decided by the governing board of the Narayana Clan."

I moved back onto my stomach, fanning away my smelly hair. "Do you know who they will pick?"

"No one could say for certain but I would think Joseph from Texas will be chosen. Though he is from Zeus, such moves do take place. He has proven his skills well with Stan incapacitated. There is no one else comparable to him in experience and esteem. Yes, it will be Joseph."

"What about Stan? How will he get along without his second right now?"

Eric shrugged. "He can either hold his state or… not."

I felt glad deep-down that I was not a vampire to have so cold a government. That feeling lasted only until I recalled that I may as well be, thanks to my entanglements. "Poor Stan."

"It's politics. The single difference between human and vampire dealings in regards to power is humans often survive their hardships, at least in the Western world. It's all about holding onto what we can, for as long as we can." He sighed so hard it turned into a yawn. "And sometimes it's about knowing when to let it all go."

Well, _that _was true enough. "So… what will Joseph do with us?"

"Nothing."

_Huh? _"Nothing?"

"We gave him an empty throne by removing both the king and his successor. Oh, do not mistake me. He will make great noise about punishing us but in the end, we fought Felipe and Victor and we won. We proved ourselves to be stronger than the king. As political as we vampires are, strength still means the most. You remember the displays of strength, the one-upmanship, that went on with Sophie-Anne's marriage? And that Felipe was only ever able to take over Louisiana by proving himself, through his people, stronger than Sophie-Anne?"

"But…"

Eric slipped a finger over my lips. "No. We will tell them that I saw my chance and I took it. No one needs to know your part in this."

I kissed his smooth skin. "What about Quinn? He knows… everything."

"He will never betray you, Sookie. Do you not understand that he killed the king for you, knowing the discovery of this act would mean his death?"

I wasn't so sure on the betrayal part but I had no doubt that Quinn would keep quiet, once I remembered he was the one who actually lit Felipe on fire. No matter how he felt about me, he was nothing if not a survivor. "So I'm safe. Quinn's safe. Pam… she's probably safe too, right? Now that Victor's dead?"

"Pam will be just fine. I'll renew our bond as soon as possible." He raised a single eyebrow. "You do not mind?"

"Oh, please." I tucked his hand up against my chest, feeling my own heartbeat through it. "You know I don't. She keeps you safe… well, safer. And… speaking of…"

Eric rubbed the curve of my breast with his knuckles. "I cannot say if I am safe or not. There are several sides to this equation, not all of which I've had time to consider."

"There's whatever debt you have to Stan…"

Something dark passed over Eric's face. "There is that. Bill cannot remain with them forever, against his own choosing. And the ridiculousness of the punishment compared to the crime… I have no need to barter for your life now that Victor is dead. I will fight the judgment within our legal system, if needed. More likely, especially once Joseph is gone, Stan will accept a trade of money and support staff. He'll have need of both."

"Who will run Louisiana? Joseph?" I thought about it for a second. "That's an awful lot of responsibility for a guy who's never really been the king before."

Eric rubbed the back of his arm across his eyes. He laughed suddenly. "You know, I do not think I care? Let the cards fall where they will. I am out of it. Done and finished."

If Mr. Cataliades had appeared over our bed doing the naked hula, it could not have surprised me more. "You… you're done? Done with… Shreveport?"

"Done with the lot of them and their power struggles. Done with the endless ass-kissing, boot-licking and bending over backwards to please and keep my Area safe. Done with…" He twisted close enough to touch my forehead with his lips. Against my skin, he said, "Done with risking you to keep my power. I thought… I thought I kept you safe by holding as much power as I could grasp. I thought I kept my people safe that way, Pam and the others. Now I see that there is no safety in that. There is only… the buying of time."

"But Eric, if you aren't the one in power, doesn't that mean you have even more people you have to obey?" I thought of my early relationship with Bill, when he'd tried to get a higher position in the hopes of keeping me from being taken from him by a stronger vampire. By _this_ stronger vampire, I realized with a jolt of humor, mixed with some sadness for all we'd gone through.

"I had thought so. All those years with Ocella, doing everything he said, _anything _he said, no matter how badly I wished to deny him…" His body hardened against me, head to toe, then relaxed again. "I thought I had to climb the ranks, to never be in such a position again. I didn't know until I'd climbed so high that I would still be at the whim of those stronger than I, Sheriff or not."

I had a thought that felt so dangerous, it was all I could do to force it out of my mouth as words. "You don't want to take over Louisiana? Be the king?"

He didn't act surprised, which I should have, expected. "Not at all. I would then find myself at the mercy of the councils, not to mention at risk from every upstart who wants to test a royal new to his throne. Louisiana is poor and depleted of strong vampires who would stay with me. We would be picked off as soon as we began. It would never be safe for you."

_Hear that, Quinn? _I recalled Quinn's words from the last time he'd come to my house, telling me Eric would never love me more than he loved power. They had bothered me but I hadn't allowed myself to dwell on it. "What will you do?"

"I will simply… live. With you." He rubbed his nose between my eyebrows. "We can live a simple life."

_Simple? _"I don't have a house."

"I do. We could live there. We could run, even expand, my businesses. We could travel. I was thinking of this … I think a part of me has thought of this ever since I regained my memories of those days I spent at your house, cursed. Sookie, those days were the happiest of my life."

"But Eric, they wouldn't just let you leave them and live like a… a regular person. Don't you think?"

He was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed, ruffling my hair with his breath. "No, you are correct. They wouldn't leave me in peace. But they might … maybe… if Pam steps up."

"To rule Louisiana?" Pam was an amazing vampire but I couldn't quite see that.

"For Joseph," he amended. "Pam is not yet ready to rule though she may be in time. Together with Joseph, she would do well."

"He could take her as his child."

I could feel Eric hating that idea. Pam was his. But he nodded. "That would be best, under those circumstances."

"I…" I didn't know what to say, or think, or feel. A normal life, with Eric. To think such a thing might actually be possible… "Do you really think this is how it's gonna be? Just like this? Joseph taking over… taking Pam… all that?"

Eric rolled on top of me, holding his weigh on his elbows at either side of my head. "Do I look like a man with a single doubt?" he asked, his blue eyes light for the first time since the night Ocella died. "Even one?"

Stretching up, I put my mouth to his, kissing him in such a way as to remind him of all the kisses we'd shared in times before. "You look like a man who wants to take his girlfriend into the shower and then…"

"Take his wife."

I just grinned. "Take being the important word."

And he did.


	8. Chapter 8

**Epilogue**

We'd been living in Eric's house in Shreveport together for two months before Eric started getting restless. I'd been waiting for it to happen, or for the vampire elite to contact him. The restlessness happened first but the contact wasn't long in following.

He'd began micromanaging Fangtasia, annoying his staff with trivial things formerly left to their own discretion, such as when they took their breaks, something Pam had never fussed about. That the restlessness was mixed up with missing Pam wasn't a surprise either.

It did surprise me that he shut me out, though I guess it shouldn't have. He'd always been the type to rely on himself, to keep his deepest emotional needs private. I missed him, which was funny since I'd never been closer to him. I did his laundry when I did my own because it was convenient and a small way to pay for my room and board, though he never mentioned a thing about that. No more anxious to be a kept woman than I'd ever been, I separated whites from darks and folded his tee-shirts, taking pleasure in the small tasks I could do for him.

Living with Eric full-time had more good to it than bad. When dark fell, we'd spend some time together, dinner for me and breakfast for him. We fell into shades of our old routine from when I'd stayed with him in the past. That I didn't go home anymore pleased him; he liked knowing where I was and having that kind of security about my well-being. Then too, he wasn't home much, spending a lot of the nighttime hours at Fangtasia. Before he'd leave, we'd get in our together time, watching old movies, talking and, well, playing in the bedroom.

The bedroom play was… sweet. With Eric, I hid nothing. We were playful as puppies, taking our time to try out all sorts of things we'd never slowed down enough to enjoy before. Sometimes I felt like the only cure for Eric's edginess was the hours we spent together naked and busy. It was when he seemed to be the most vividly _alive._

When the call came, it was from a friend. Pam had been occupied with her new responsibilities in ways I'd tried not to know much about, not wanting to pique Eric's interest. He had gone cold turkey on vampire politics and on non-Fangtasia-related vamps in general. Even Bill, who'd chosen to stay in Texas with Judith to help out Stan, had been on the non-communication list. After all he'd done for us, it didn't feel right but I didn't want to open that door. We'd seen too much together, Eric and I. We needed a rest and time to see who we were together apart from the constant threat of danger amping up the intensity.

And we' d found that despite my financial misgivings, despite Eric's boredom, we were pretty much amazing when it came to the relationship stuff.

Pam's call didn't topple the planet from its axis, as I'd feared. Eric talked with her for a long time, spread flat on his belly on the living room rug. I paced in circles around him, reading an open sort of hesitation through the bond, itching to know what was being said. Not for the first time, I wished I could take a peek at Eric's thoughts, as a cheat sheet so I could be prepared with the right answers when the talk was done.

And then it _was _done. No sooner did he hit the End button than he began to laugh. He laughed and laughed until his cheeks were streaked with pink. Then he fell silent, staring off into space.

"So?" I poked his rib with my toe.

He did that cool thing where he undulated on the floor enough to jump to his feet. "So … they are requesting my assistance."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Requesting? Huh."

"Alright, demanding," Eric amended, taking up my pacing path where I'd left off. "It seems that Felipe's death was something of a financial blow to Nevada and Louisiana. Not that they are paupers, with the ability to take advantage of the human's advertising of Las Vegas as an adult playground. But they have felt a pinch, or so Pam tells me."

"They want you to give them money?"

He paused long enough to give me a wicked grin. "They want me to _make _them money. Pam is requesting my business experience. Joseph and his people want me as a business consultant. Apparently, Felipe was fairly hands-on with the casinos there while neither Joseph nor those he brought from Texas know anything about it."

I felt like I'd swallowed a brick. "They want you… to move to Nevada?"

"No, though some amount of travel would be required." Eric stopped and took my hands in his. His fingers felt warm so mine must have been freezing. "They simply want me to make them money. If I do that, Sookie, they will continue to leave us in peace."

The brick in my stomach began to crumble. "That's what Pam said?"

"Word for word." He cupped my face between his palms. "It's not politics but in a way, running a business is not unlike running an Area. And this is… larger. They are talking an empire of businesses. I would be in charge of everything to do with making money, which is…" He kissed me, hard and fast. "Everything."

He kept on talking but I couldn't hear anything more. I sank down onto the couch, a smile wide on my face but a heart torn between happiness for Eric and anxiety for our future. As glad as I was for him, I couldn't help but think that every word he spoke about his plans for this future empire was a step he took away from me.

I kept that smile in place and he kept right on talking.

XXX

He left at sunset the next evening for Nevada, radiating joy and purpose. Our good-bye was similarly purposeful: brief, intense and entirely between the bed sheets. After he left, I showered and put on my brightest sundress, the one with big sunflowers that laid over my chest like extra boobs. I needed the cheer. I needed to get out of Eric's house as well. It felt lifeless without him there, without knowing when he'd be back.

I'd never been the type to wait around moaning when my guy had to work. I wasn't about to start now. Driving back to Bon Temps, I pulled into Merlotte's in time for a late supper, which I served up myself in the kitchen, unable to bear being waited on like a customer. I needed all the familiarity I could get just then. Sam was nowhere to be seen but I was surprised to see Claude at the bar, sitting alone.

"Cousin," he greeted me, standing up and kissing my cheek. "I wondered when you'd be back."

"I've been in Shreveport," I said, surprised. "And I called you but you never called me back. And why are you here anyway? I figured you'd be moved back to your old place. Not that I'm not glad to see you."

"I am back in my old place. I came here to talk to you." Reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, he handed me an envelope. Inside were photographs. "I was asked to bring you these."

Looking at the top one, tears sprang to my eyes. _Gran_. She was so young in the shot, maybe my age or even younger. The next was of Jason and I as babies, propped up on a picnic blanket. His arm was around me in a gesture of protection I remembered as typical from back before anyone realized how different I was. The third showed my parents with the both of us, a portrait of a family that no longer existed.

I pressed the stack to my chest. "Claude… I… I don't know what to say. Thank you!"

He shrugged in typical Claude fashion. "Our grandfather doesn't forget you."

Wiping at my eyes with one hand, I held the pictures safe with the other and tried to think of something less emotionally wrought to talk about. "How is Dermot?"

"He gets by. I gave him a job at the club."

My mouth fell open. "You made Dermot a _stripper_?"

Smirking, he laughed. "Not a chance. The man can't dance. He takes tickets, sweeps up… mostly hangs around and studies the humans and learns."

Not wanting to think about what Dermot would learn from observing humans at a strip club, I said, "And how are you?"

Claude's eyes narrowed on me. "No, I think a better question is, how are you, cousin?"

"Do you care?" I sucked in my lips, a little ashamed of myself but the words had popped out before I could stop them.

He didn't take offense. His face actually softened, just a bit. Maybe he was thinking of Claudine. "I care enough to ask," he said finally.

"I'm… I'm fine," I said, thinking of Eric, wondering if he'd gotten to see Joseph yet, if Pam was with him, if he was happy. "I've been watching a lot of movies. Eric's… he's good. We stay home a lot."

Claude leaned back against the bar. "He was bored at home with you. He needed more."

The pictures nearly dropped from my grasp. "You have a lot of gall to say something like that to me!"

"I say it because it's the truth. Right?"

I started to yell at him but no sound would come out of my mouth.

"But Sookie, have you thought about yourself? Were you bored too?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell Claude that being with Eric was all I needed. That as long as he and I were together and safe, the world was a good place. It wasn't all a lie. But Claude's blunt appraisal opened a window in me. I thought about all the times when I'd sat in Eric's living room, tapping my toe on the floor, waiting for him to rise for the day. Waiting for my day to begin, with him.

Tilting his head, Claude gazed at me sideways. "You were bored because you need more and so does Eric. And that is something frightening to you. Look at you, shaking in your little shoes."

"Bad things happened, Claude. We lost almost everything but each other."

He pulled a tragic face. "Oh no! Shutter the windows, lock Eric in the basement, bar the door. Trouble may come!"

Gritting my teeth, I began to count to ten in my head, slowly. I reminded myself that he was one of the few remaining members of my family. Then I counted to ten again.

He watched all this, the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. But he didn't look cruel. He looked amused. That bothered me more than cruelty. I missed Claudine more than ever right then.

Finally, he sighed and took my arm. "Come with me. There's something you should see."

"Huh?" I let him lead me out to my car.

"Just drive." He got into the passenger seat and closed the door, waiting expectantly for me to join him.

I did, slowly. "Where are we going?"

"To piss off your husband." He patted my hand. "Don't look so worried. We're going home."

I hadn't been back to my ruined house since we'd returned from Nevada. It had been too much for me, the idea of seeing the burned-out wreckage of everything tangible I'd loved on this planet. Seeing it would have felt too much like seeing Gran's body dead on her kitchen floor. Eric hadn't mentioned it and neither had I. Though I'd thought of it, ghostly as a grave, and pictured it as a silent monument to all that was wrong in the world.

Claude wouldn't let me deflect from this, though I tried. He all but took the wheel from my hands. Once we were on the familiar gravel drive, I slowed way down, buying myself time. Muttering under his breath, Claude patted my shoulder. _There, there._

The night was very dark but as we came around the bend, I realized gradually that there was nothing to see. The land had been swept clean, with only the foundation of the house remaining. It looked awful but clean, like bleached bones.

Getting out of the car, I walked around the outside of the foundation, rebuilding the house with my eyes. There was the kitchen, I imagined, and there had been the bathroom. Claude trailed along behind me, whistling a tune I didn't recognize.

"Who did this?" I asked, leaning down to touch the edge where my bedroom had once been. "You?"

"Not me," he said. Taking hold of my shoulders, he turned me gently to face the woods. Then he disappeared.

At the woods' edge stood Eric, running towards me with something small in his hands. I took a step back, fear boiling inside me. "What… what went wrong?" I stuttered as he neared, wanting to cry. _I knew it, I knew it!_

"This is all wrong," he said, embracing me. The folder he held brushed the back of my hair. "I asked Pam to wait another day. I had to meet someone here."

"This is wrong?"

He frowned, a line furrowing between his blond eyebrows. "It's all wrong. Claude knew better. This was a surprise for you."

He handed me the folder. Opening it, I saw house plans. "You… you are rebuilding?"

"For you," he said. "I'd planned to wait until the walls were up to show you. It would look… less sad, with walls instead of just this foundation."

I looked up at him. "You are rebuilding my house?"

"Pam is rebuilding your house." He turned a page to show me the sketch of the outside, looking just as it once had. "I convinced her to minimize the upgrades. I knew you would want it to be just as it once was."

"She doesn't have to do that. It was Victor's fault." Numb, I turned pages. I didn't know what to think.

"Pam has plenty of money and she wants to do this. Allow her to assuage her guilt. Think of how good it will feel to see this house as it once was, to sleep in your old room again."

A tiny warning bell went off in the back of my head. "Don't you want me with you in Shreveport?"

Taking the folder from me, he tossed it to the grass and drew me back in against his chest. "My lover, as bored as I have been these last eight weeks, it hasn't escaped my notice that you have been just as lacking in direction. Shreveport is too far from your work.

_That sounds like a no to me_. "You don't want me to live with you." I had to see his eyes. Breaking away from him, I sat on the edge of the foundation. "Isn't that right?"

Eric tipped his head way back and looked up at the stars. His chest rose and fell as he took deep breaths. Then he started to laugh. "Sookie, you really think I've been working to surprise you with this house only to dump you into it and leave? Is that what you really think?"

"I-"

With one hand, he caught me by the back of the neck and shook me, gently. "I will live here too, if that meets with your approval. Those minimal upgrades had to do mainly with creating light-tight spaces. For me. So that I could be here. With you."

I closed my eyes, feeling a blush spread from my cheeks all the way down across my chest. _Oh._ "Well… that's good, then. That's… that's fine."

He kissed my forehead. "Not your wisest moment, is this, my lover."

"Uh, no. Not really." I thought of the possibilities, raced through each one. "What about Fangtasia?"

"It will benefit from my absence, I think. Pam received a call and gave me a long lecture about trusting those I hire to manage rather than taking over everything myself. Besides, I'll be traveling. Which means you will have your space, your time to work, to see your friends, to watch that boy, your cousin's child…" Brushing my hair from my face, he said, "To have your life. The rest of it. Just as I have mine. Just as people everywhere do. This isn't a fairy tale, Sookie. This isn't a novel like those Claude poses for. We can have more than each other and have each other too."

I thought of Bill, how I'd always worried if we went more than a millisecond without some sort of affirmation of love. And of Quinn, who could never have given me the attention I needed, even though it shamed me to think that he would have had to abandon his family to be with me. I thought of how much Eric and I shared, all the humor and understanding, the good and the bad of it. Of us.

There might just be room to breathe here, I thought, locked in on his eyes, which were patient as he waited for me to consider all of this.

The night was wide and clear above us. I smiled at Eric. It was a real smile.

XXX

**Finished! Thanks for the support. I appreciated all of your comments during the writing of this fic. **


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